NJCOA Executive Director Discusses Success & The Changing Face Of Camping At National ARVC Convention In Fort Worth, Texas
Finding the balance and allure of an area comes down to good planning and at times a little bit of luck. With a destination like New Jersey, the hidden gems lie in knowing the uniqueness an area and its parks how to offer. As current executive director of the New Jersey Campground Owners Association and the president of the New Jersey Travel Industry Association with a experienced career in tourism and chamber management, Joann DelVescio understands these different intersecting points. DelVescio sat down with The Buzz at the national ARVC convention in Fort Worth to discuss diversity, best practices and new ideas.
The Buzz: There are a diversity of different campgrounds in New Jersey...not just the shore but also the forests that are in land...
Joann DelVescio: We can start up in the Northwest corner of New Jersey up in the mountains...the Kittatinny mountain range...the highest point of New Jersey is called High Point...and we have about 17 campgrounds that are in the area. That is a very rural area. You can hike. You can bike. Beautiful lakes...you can canoe...you can kayak. There are also campgrounds right down along the Delaware Water Gap. That is kind of up in the Northwest corner of the state. And as you come to the Northeast area, we have one campground that is located in Jersey City. But it is a campground that when you are camping, you are looking out over the harbor. You are seeing the Statue Of Liberty and highlighting New York City. That is Liberty Harbor RV Park. It is a campground where you are kind of in and out. You are not staying there for a week. You are staying there because you want to be in the city. People will go there for the football games which is right in that Meadowlands area. Then as you head down the Eastern shore of New Jersey, you are going into the Shore region...so Seaside Heights and Asbury Park and Spring Lake...you have a concentration of campgrounds that are in that area as well. People camp there because they want to be by those shore areas...Six Flags Great Adventure is also right there. That is obviously a big draw for people.
The Buzz: What are best practices for you in the campgrounds that form your association?
JV: We like people to disconnect as much as they can when they get to a campground. I mean that is not possible since most of the campgrounds have wi-fi and everything that is available to them. But there is nothing like sitting outside at night around the campfire looking up to the stars. We really do try to encourage that...especially parents with children. Kids today...all they want to do is be playing on their phone or playing on some little piece of equipment. We really think it is important for a family to get together and share family time without any distractions like that.
The Buzz: New Jersey had a really successful summer in terms of camping. Why was that?
JV: A couple things. One is we used to have a big Canadian market during the summertime. Those last two weeks in July and first week of August, the Canadians would be coming in...especially in the Southern Shore area...down by the Kitman area...those areas are full of Canadians that would come straight down for 7 to 10 days from Quebec and Montreal. They love to come down to New Jersey. At that point our water is quite warm. They are trying to get a little further south beyond the New England States where the water is still kind of cold. People can swim in New Jersey and the water temperature gets as high as 80 degrees. The exchange rate kind of hurt us this year with the Canadian market. We didn't see as many coming down. What it did [though] was open up those campsites for people who were never able to get into those campgrounds before during that time period. We were always full with our Canadian visitors.
JV: But what we found is that a lot of Canadians...normally they book a year in advance or 6 months in advance...this year they would pull in their with their 5th wheels [but] just come in without any reservations looking for a place to stay. It was amazing to hear from campground owners who could not believe that “we've had three Canadian families pull in today looking for a campground. We were full and we kept sending them to the next campground down the road” hoping they would have some availability.
The Buzz: Can you talk about interacting with ARVC and the importance of that bond?
JV: New Jersey is very independent. We have a very strong state association. Every campground in New Jersey belongs to our association. The goal is to make the national association strong because that is better for all of us. Jeff Simms does a lot [on] legislative issues but we do also have a lobbyist that we deal with...and our lobbyist...he used to run a tourism association in New Jersey which we share. We share him. The aspects of legislation...Jeff sends things to us. We really haven't had major major issues [in New Jersey]. Obviously we fought the minimum wage bill this year. Those kinds of things we are fighting in New Jersey all the time. It is not like we are fighting any other state. Luckily there has been no specific campground legislation that has been impacting us so we have been lucky in that respect. But the Federal legislation that ARVC monitors is obviously extremely important for us and we do jump on board. We try to support ARVC in any way we can.
The Buzz: Can you talk about what engages and challenges you?
JV: I have to say I love my job. I absolutely I love my owners. They are just a wonderful group of caring individuals and I think that just makes my job so much easier. I visit every single one of my campground members every year. Absolutely. I start in April and through October I go to every single campground. Camping is very important. We are one of the only camping associations in the country that goes to IPW because we are in that Philadelphia/JFK/LaGuardia/Newark market . [The international travelers] are coming in. We know they are renting Rvs from Cruise America because Cruise America tells us. [These visiting Rvers are coming in]...and New Jersey may be their first stop. The international market...Germany has been very strong for us. South America has come along...and now the Chinese market. After being at The international market is important to us and I want the US Travel Association to put camping on their radar. I want them to be able to include camping in their lodging statistics. Because the economic impact is unbelievable. We have 25000 campsites in New Jersey. We are a small state and that is a lot of campsites.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Atlantic Blueberry RV Park, a Southern New Jersey fun-filled camping experience with an easy drive to many of the Southern New Jersey and Jersey Shore area attractions including Atlantic City with its bustling boardwalk and Brigantine Beach, a family oriented beach town.