SENATE STATE GOVERNMENT, WAGERING, TOURISM & HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3206

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 12, 2023

      The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3206.

     This bill concerns tourism funding and promotion in New Jersey.

     As amended by the committee, this bill requires the Division of Travel and Tourism in the Department of State to re-draw the State tourism map to create a “Central Jersey” region including, at a minimum, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset counties.  The division is directed to incorporate the new “Central Jersey” region in all regional marketing activities, including in publications and on the VisitNJ.org website. The bill further requires the division to eliminate any requirement from its grant applications and contracts that State tourism grant funds have to be targeted toward audiences located at a minimum distance from the awarded tourism site, and will include a flexible approach to promoting overnight stays. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The amendments remove the requirements for the division to:

      (1) use any federal economic relief funds in support of tourism promotion to benefit regions and activities most in need of economic relief, using the percentage of tourism decline in those regions or activities as the basis for how and where the relief funds are spent;

      (2) dedicate at least 10 percent of its annual appropriations to the promotion of agritourism; and

      (3) update the synopsis of the bill.