For anyone still stuck on the pervasive image of New Jersey as one big oil refinery, think again. Yes, a vast industrial landscape surrounds the approaches to New York City—windowed in the opening credits of The Sopranos—but the real story is in New Jersey’s nickname, the Garden State. Historic Hammonton is the world’s blueberry capital. New Jersey tomatoes are world-class. Farmland and forests abound, with the 1.1 million-acre Pinelands reserve occupying 22 percent of the state’s total landmass alone.
New Jersey’s abundance is also reflected in its roughly 140 golf courses, 21 vineyards in an emerging wine industry and 127 miles of white sandy coastline. Jersey City—yes, that Jersey City—is hosting a major golf tournament in 2009, six major convention centers can handle gatherings of any size, there’s overnight space aplenty with more than 95,000 rooms statewide, and five international airports make accessing New Jersey easy.
From big-city culture to rural charm, the choices for productive meetings are endless.
Atlantic City
According to Gary Musich, vice president of convention development for the Atlantic City CVA, the transformation that has swept New Jersey’s seaside playground in recent years has brought “balance and maturity” to the destination, with the addition of boutique stores, high-end entertainment and other non-gaming assets into the mix. The ongoing investment—which includes plans for three new mega-resorts, each with 2,000 rooms—is already paying serious dividends.
Musich reports a robust lift in meetings and conventions business as well as an increase in hotel stays.
“With gaming as part of a well-distributed, multifaceted offering that includes spas, top dining and luxury hotels, the average length of stay has already doubled,” he says. “Planners also praise our user-friendly meetings micro-site, www.meetinac.com, launched last year.”
Evidence of progress is everywhere. The famed Boardwalk is undergoing an end-to-end facade refurbishment, retiring worn honky-tonk elements in favor of the classier, boutique-driven attitude exemplified by the ultra-luxe Pier at Caesars. Recreational options now include parasailing and Sea-Doo rentals, golfers have 20 courses within an hour’s reach, and The Walk, an entertainment, dining and retail complex, is expanding.
With 500,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, the Atlantic City Convention Center boasts the biggest floor from Atlanta to Boston, and hotel space, currently at 20,200 rooms, will grow by more than 30 percent over the next three years. In 2008, the 800-room Water Club, attached to the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, will debut, while other exciting projects also coming on-line next year include Harrah’s 47-floor, 964-room hotel tower and Trump Taj Mahal’s new 39-story, 786-room hotel tower.
“People are no longer coming here for one-day trips,” Musich says, “but for a world-class resort experience.”
Southern Shore/Cape May
Anchored by three main destinations—Ocean City, the Wildwoods and Cape May—this coastal getaway at the state’s southernmost point is the perfect big-city antidote.
According to Cape May County Department of Tourism Executive Director Diane Wieland, 49 percent of all second homes in New Jersey are located in Cape May County, with the appeal of 30 miles of superb beaches and classic seaside entertainment steadily finding a larger audience.
“While Greater Philadelphia historically has been our major market,” Wieland explains, “we now draw significant visitorship from Baltimore to Upstate New York, with choices for everyone.”
A dry community, Ocean City is geared toward families with children, while Wildwood holds nostalgic appeal with its collection of vintage properties. Echoing the best of Route 66 and Miami Beach, properties like the vintage Caribbean and the retro-boutique Starlux, in addition to the recently reopened Doo Wop Museum, tell the story of over half a century of fun at the beach.
Running for 38 blocks and fronting an enormous expanse of beach, the Wildwoods boardwalk is also home to the area’s largest group venue, the ultra-modern, 260,000-square-foot Wildwoods Convention Center, with spectacular ocean views and on-site parking for 600 cars.
Picturesque Cape May is the oldest seashore resort in the U.S., a national landmark famed for its “painted lady” houses and other Victorian architecture. The circa-1869 Gingerbread House is one of several fine bed-and-breakfast properties in the historic district, with larger choices including the 24-room, meetings-capable Virginia Hotel.
Group excursions include a world-renowned bird observatory, the Cape May Zoo and hunting for polished quartz “Cape May diamonds” along the shoreline.
Central Jersey Shore
Life’s a beach along Ocean and Monmouth counties’ 90-mile coastline, home to destination boardwalk- and amusement pier-beaches such as Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant and Long Beach Island, or LBI, a 21-mile barrier island and summer colony.
Unique group options include Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, thoroughbred racing at the Freehold Raceway and Monmouth Race Track, and inland water cruises on the Mississippi riverboat replicas River Belle and River Queen. In Holmdel, the PNC Bank Arts Center concert and entertainment venue turns 40 this year.
For boutique luxury, head to the Blue Bay Inn in Atlantic Highlands, reachable from Manhattan by ferry in 35 minutes. Close by is Sandy Hook Gateway National Park, the peninsular home of America’s oldest continuously operating lighthouse, old gun batteries and historic Fort Hancock.
Superior meetings-capable hotels include the 254-room Ocean Place Resort and Spa in Long Branch, the 58-room boutique Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank and the 73-room oceanfront landmark Breakers Hotel and Restaurant in Spring Lake.
Meadowlands Liberty Region
Launched just over two years ago, the Meadowlands Liberty CVB continues to make big strides in getting the word out about its significant meetings advantage.
“Just across the Hudson River, we are only 15 minutes away from Manhattan on a good traffic day,” says Ron Simoncini, spokesperson for the Meadowlands Liberty CVB, “but many of our hotel rooms price at $300 less a night. That’s hard to beat.”
Stretching from the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J., down to the growing metropolis of Jersey City, the region has another major advantage in its vast transportation infrastructure, already accommodating around 100,000 people daily.
Remarkably, ecotourism is a major draw. Home to 13,000 acres of estuaries and protected marshlands—and many unique species of residential and migratory birds—groups come to navigate the region’s extensive waterways. Reopening this July after a two-year renovation, the event-capable Liberty Science Center is another stellar connection with the natural world.
The Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, encompassing Giants Stadium, Continental Arena and the Meadowlands RaceTrack, is the No. 1 multifacility venue in North America for events booked, according to Simoncini. A 4.8 million-square-foot entertainment attraction is currently under construction at Meadowlands Sports Complex and will feature a 300-foot-high Ferris wheel with views of Manhattan’s skyline; a roller coaster; an indoor ski slope; and five distinct interior “lifstyle” zones.
In nearby Secaucus, groups can opt for the Meadowlands Exposition Center.
The eyes of the golfing world will be on Jersey City in 2009, when the PGA Tour’s Barclays tournament comes to Liberty National Golf Club, a daring new private course boasting spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Upwards of 35,000 visitors are expected, certain to fill standout properties such as the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, the Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel and the Sheraton Meadowlands, all of which are also top meetings hotels in the region.
The area has 8,400 rooms; expand that by just a few miles and there are 24,000 within easy reach of New York City.
“We are becoming less of a Manhattan spillover,” Simoncini says, “than a destination unto ourselves.”
Central New Jersey
A bit farther south in New Brunswick, which has undergone an impressive revitalization, are meetings-ready options such as the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick, featuring 21 function rooms on three floors, and the new Heldrich, a $120 million Benchmark Hospitality-managed property that opened in March with 248 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of function space.
In nearby Edison, the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center is one of the state’s premier group facilities, with more than 150,000 square feet of exhibit space.
The Skylands
For countryside retreats, this scenic region in northwestern New Jersey, with a diverse geography filled with parkland, lakes, rivers, and farmland, is made to measure.
“Our appeal is growing with groups that traditionally meet in Philadelphia or New York but are now looking for a more relaxing environment,” says Giulia Iannitelli, executive director of the Skylands of New Jersey Tourism Council.
The region encompasses five counties: Somerset, Morris, Sussex, Hunterdon, and Warren.
The 60-mile “Legends and Lore” self-driving tour through Somerset County typifies the region’s timeless beauty, winding visitors past Revolutionary War sites, covered bridges and mid-17th century settlements.
Convenient to the area’s many Fortune 500 corporate headquarters, the exquisite 102-room Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge has 18 private rooms accommodating up to 500 people, and the Dolce Basking Ridge (formerly the North Maple Inn) has 20,000 square feet of meeting space and is planning an $8 million upgrade. The 346-room Bridgewater Marriott in Bridgewater is a stylish newcomer with 11,300 square feet of meeting space. In Somerset, The Palace at Somerset Park, a secluded estate with a 72,000-square-foot mansion, is ideal for corporate meetings and retreats, while the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center–Somerset is another popular group choice. The Garden State Exhibit Center is also located in Somerset.
Farther north in the Sussex County town of Vernon, Intrawest recently unveiled the Appalachian Condominium Hotel at Mountain Creek Resort. The ski and summer resort, with $60 million in improvements over the past four years, offers 5,000 square feet of slope-side conference space.
Nearby, Crystal Springs Resort debuted the meetings-capable, 250-suite Grand Cascades Lodge in July.
Within 25 miles of the Delaware River, rural Warren and Hunterdon counties are great small meeting escapes. Golfers love the event-ready Architects Golf Course in Phillipsburg, with nearby accommodations at the meetings-friendly Inn at Panther Valley. Local outings include canoeing and hot-air ballooning.
Delaware River Region
Offering big-city conveniences without the congestion, this five-county region in South Jersey, situated between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, is roughly 100 miles by car from New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Throw in 120 affordably priced hotels, with free parking at most locations, and you have, in the words of Judi London, president of the South Jersey Tourism Corporation, “a home away from home.”
Attractions include everything from Revolutionary War and Underground Railroad sites to hiking in the sprawling Pine Barrens, where the spooky Jersey Devil is said to have roamed for centuries.
Communities such as Princeton, Trenton, Camden, and Cherry Hill are among the region’s most popular destinations for groups.
Among the standout meetings options in Princeton are two newly renovated properties: the Princeton Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at Forrestal (formerly the Doral Forrestal) and the Lakeside Conference Center and Hotel–Princeton Forrestal Center.
In the state capital of Trenton, groups can catch a show at the newly renovated Trenton War Memorial, stay at the meetings-friendly Trenton Marriott Lafayette Yard, or enjoy an elegant reception at Grounds for Sculpture, a 35-acre sculpture park and museum.
In Camden, home to the new Adventure Aquarium, large groups can meet or stay overnight in the Battleship New Jersey, America’s most decorated battleship, or head to the Tweeter Center at the Waterfront, boasting a 25,000-seat outdoor amphitheater and views of the Philadelphia skyline.
Meanwhile, the recently renovated Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, located just east of Camden, offers more than 43,000 square feet of function space.
Amenities at the high-tech Enterprise Center at Burlington County College in nearby Mt. Laurel include worldwide videoconferencing and focus-group suites.
Farther south in Elmer, Appel Farm Arts and Music Center has meeting space for up to 375 people and overnight accommodations for 275.
For More Info
Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority 609.449.7101
www.atlanticcitynj.com
Cape May County Department of Tourism 609.463.6415
www.thejerseycape.com
Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement
and Development Authority 609.729.9000
www.wildwoodsnj.com
Meadowlands Liberty CVB 201.605.1059
www.meadowlandslibertycvb.com
Monmouth County Department
of Economic Development and Tourism 732.431.7476
www.visitmonmouth.com
New Jersey Tourism Commission 609.777.0885
www.state.nj.us/travel
Ocean County Tourism 732.929.2000
www.oceancountytourism.com
Princeton Regional CVB 609.924.1776
www.visitprinceton.org
Shore Region Tourism Council 732.244.9283
www.shoreregion.com
Skylands of New Jersey Tourism Council 908.213.9176
www.skylandstourism.org
Somerset County Business Partnership 908.218.4300
www.scbp.org
Southern Shore Regional 856.453.2177
www.njsouthernshore.com
South Jersey Tourism Corporation 856.757.9400
www.visitsouthjersey.com
