New Jersey residents are encouraged to come together on social media to share their travel and tourism experiences as part of a new interactive campaign created by Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. During the summer, the Lt. Governor will pick winning suggestions to visit during her Tourism Tuesday stops.
Governor Guadagno stated, during a March 12 conference on tourism, that “Travel and tourism directly supports more than 315,000 jobs. When you include indirect impacts, more than a half million jobs – or 9.9% of all New Jersey jobs – depend on tourism.”
While many people associate the Garden State with the various shore points to be explored, Tourism Tuesday will be an opportunity for showing the other great experiences visitors, and residents, can have throughout the state.
“We have to recognize that the 2015 visitor accesses tourism and recreation information digitally,” Guadagno continued. “We need to connect with those potential tourists — millennials, in particular — through the social media channels they prefer and use every day.”
“Make no mistake, today’s history buffs may be captivated by New Jersey’s vibrant past, but they’re navigating their way to historic sites using their car’s GPS system,” Guadagno said. “When they get there, they’re not looking for a print brochure; they’re uploading information about those sites on their iPads and cell phones.”
“And when they record their experiences, they’re not using their Brownie or Kodak Camera with the intention of pasting pictures into a scrapbook. No, they’re hoisting a selfie stick and posting cellphone videos on Facebook, YouTube and Vine.”
If New Jersey’s tourism industry is to flourish in the 21st Century, it needs to adopt the tools of the 21st Century. New Jersey tourism must transform into a digital marketing powerhouse.
“I call on all of you to join me in launching a new era in travel and tourism marketing that embraces 21st Century technology to open the doors to a more robust sector,” Guadagno concluded.
You are invited to participate in the campaign by posting photos and comments about your favorite tourism spots using #tourismtuesday on Twitter and Instagram (@LtGovGuadagno). You can also post on the Tourism Tuesday tab on the Visit New Jersey Facebook page or email with ideas about destinations to promote.