by Donald Wood
Last updated: 5:00 PM ET, Fri March 4, 2016
PHOTO: Cape May, New Jersey. (Photo courtesy of Thinkstock)
On Thursday, New Jersey officials announced that the tourism industry helped the state generate $43.4 billion in revenue last year.
According to Wayne Perry of The Associated Press, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno credited lower gas prices as part of the reason the state earned $43.4 billion in 2015, an increase of more than three percent.
The New Jersey shore cities and surrounding areas accounted for almost half of the entire state's tourism spending last year, with 48 percent overall. Even non-traditional vacation destinations like Passaic County, Cumberland County and Hudson County all saw increases, at 9.9, 8.8 and 8.6 percent more than 2015, respectively.
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In addition, the number of visitors to New Jersey reached 95 million last year, an increase of 2.4 percent. The tourism industry also helped directly employ 318,330 people in the state, according to The AP.
Tourism also generated $10.2 billion in government revenue for New Jersey in 2015-including $4.7 billion in taxes-as well as $37.3 billion of state gross domestic product.
Guadagno released a statement to The Associated Press, saying, "We bounced back in part because of the glorious weather we had last summer, and that glorious weather brought so many tourists to the Jersey shore. People going to Atlantic City don't ask if there's a state takeover; they ask 'Is the sun shining and are the casinos open?' This summer I'm hoping the sun is shining and the casinos are open."
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