Five years ago, COVID-19 changed the world in ways large and small, including the tourism market on the Jersey Shore. It was not that long ago that beaches and boardwalks were fenced off, public gatherings sharply curtailed and many in business had a real concern that they were not going to make it through to the other side, whenever that might come. “We had concerns whether our business would sustain,” said Todd deSatnick, of Cape May, founder of deSatnick Real Estate. At the start of 2020, doctors and Chinese officials became increasingly concerned about an outbreak of pneumonia from an unknown cause. By March, cases were spreading quickly in the United States. “Nobody knew what was going to happen,” deSatnick said. “People were getting sick. There were restrictions on rentals, cancellations on rentals.”
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On March 9, 2020, Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency, and on March 16, strict limits shut down gyms, movie theaters and other businesses. Restaurants moved to delivery and takeout, and some began to look to outside seating as a way to keep customers coming. In Ocean City, Mayor Jay Gillian had playgrounds padlocked and the beaches fenced off. Along the Washington Street Mall in Cape May, shop owners stood at the door and delivered goods to customers, and the city allowed alcohol outside in hopes of keeping businesses afloat. That was the year Sne Avichal started as the managing partner at The Scarborough in Ocean City, a long-running bed-and-breakfast purchased by investors Raj and Yogi Khatiwala. Before moving to Ocean City, Avichal was living in Manhattan, in the East Village, and things were getting bad.
Historic house tours are a December staple in Cape May, Dennisville and several other communities, but not in Ocean City, at least not other years. That’s set to change with a planned walking tour of several homes and businesses Saturday, with a mapped tour of several properties decorated for the holidays. There were morgues on the sidewalks, and ambulances were almost the only traffic in one of the world’s busiest cities. It was a sharp contrast to Ocean City, and when he brought the kind of caution to The Scarborough that was normal for New York, some of the folks visiting from Pennsylvania didn’t really see the point, he said. “For my guests, they thought that Ocean City was going a little over the top,” Avichal said. “It was a bad summer.” Businesses across the board were hurting. Avichal tried to liven things up, including with upbeat jazz from the 1920s, the last time a global pandemic had such a significant impact. With fewer guests, the inn felt a little ghostly, he said. It was also difficult to get staff, so he ended up taking on more responsibilities and was always on call. “It rewired my brain. The landline for the business went right to my cellphone,” he said. Customer demands changed. While the smell of bleach and disinfectant might have once been a problem, it was now expected from a wary public. By May, New Jersey began to open up, slowly. In June, that included outdoor dining, and casinos could reopen at one-quarter capacity. As September arrived, however, many restrictions remained in place. Some would remain for at least a year, as Americans got used to wearing masks indoors and constant reminders to keep six feet of distance. But in the fall of 2020, local businesses saw something unexpected. Shore towns remained crowded, and demand for shore properties increased. In part, many people were now flush with federal stimulus checks aimed at preventing the economy from entering freefall. Expanding tech opportunities allowed remote work and remote school, so some from Philadelphia and New York could stay at the beach. Others who may have previously gotten on a plane were reluctant to do so, and so instead decided to drive to the shore when they were no longer on strict lockdown, deSatnick said, driving new demand for a limited number of properties. “You can’t pinpoint just one factor in creating more demand,” deSatnick said. But the result was clear, with property values increasing significantly in South Jersey as the pandemic waned. The intensity of the market has cooled, but several experts say the increased value of properties remained. That’s meant more demand for services, and more people at the shore. “We see the Jersey Shore continuing to become more and more year-round in the southern part of the state,” deSatnick said. At the same time, people want to decide when they will visit a lot later. While hotels and rentals used to book up for the summer early in the year, more visitors want to decide their weekend plans on Thursday and expect something to be available. No one describes 2020 as a good year for business, but that late-season increase prevented it from being an economic disaster. A 2024
report from the Cape May County Department of Tourism shows the occupancy tax collected in the county dropping sharply from 2019 to 2020, after years of slow increase, from just over $13 million in 2019 to $9.97 million in 2020. But what followed was a significant jump in 2021, to more than $16 million, and it continued to climb, hitting $21.9 million in 2023. The same report shows an increased concern about affordability from visitors, as the post-lockdown desperation to get out fades, and reports are that advance bookings for 2025 are below previous years for many businesses. “Getting back to ‘normal’ will end up being something very different from the pre-pandemic ‘normal,’ and we are not there yet,” reads the county report, adding businesses will need to continue to adapt.
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