Good Weather, Holiday Spirit Translate to Busy December for Atlantic City

Key Business Indicators Show Heavier Traffic, Bump in Welcome Center Visits

(Atlantic City, NJ, January 10, 2012) – Mild weather and weekend holidays seemed to work in Atlantic City’s favor in December, according to some key statistics.

According to unaudited numbers provided by the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA), 1,582,635 cars passed through the Atlantic City Expressway’s Pleasantville Plaza on their way to the destination in December 2011, an 8.9% increase over December 2010.  Scheduled air service passengers at ACY were also up from the same month last year by 1.75%, and overnight bus passengers had a significant up tick of 88.9%, driven by a 76.6% increase in the number of overnight buses arriving in December 2011 over last December.  SJTA notes that air service numbers will decline going forward, due to the loss of AirtTran service.

Those traffic increases also pushed an increase in visitors at the city’s Welcome Centers on the Boardwalk and Black Horse Pike.  The information counselors assisted nearly 7,000 people in December 2011, a 52% increase over December 2010. There was an overall 10% increase in Welcome Center visitors for the year.

Traffic on the city’s main tourism Web site, www.atlanticcitynj.com, continued to surge, with 200,701 unique visitors in December 2011, a 49% increase over December 2010.  Of those, 181,525 were new visitors to the site.  Additionally, 83% more people opted in to receive eNews from the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA), which operates the site.

“Obviously, more new visitors are joining the ranks of Atlantic City’s valued repeat visitors,” said Jeff Vasser, president of the ACCVA.  “This trend should increase as Revel opens this spring and the Atlantic City Tourism District experiences changes and improvements guided by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority’s Master Plan.”

Even during a traditionally sluggish month for conventions in Atlantic City, there were some bright spots.  Two more trade shows at the Atlantic City Convention Center in December 2011 over December 2010 brought 121,849 delegates, who spent an estimated $9.7 million, a 10% increase over December 2010.

Spectrum Gaming Group provides the following additional insight to factors impacting December’s business climate:

“On a year-over-year calendar day basis, December 2011 had one more “weekend” day (a Saturday, New Year’s Eve) versus December 2010. Overall, there were 26 public events held in December 2011, versus 25 comparable events in December 2010, an increase of 4.0 percent.

“According to the National Weather Service, the average temperature for December reported at Atlantic City was 43 degrees Fahrenheit. This was considerably warmer than normal and than December of prior year. Additionally, there was no material snowfall in the region in December 2011, while in 2010 a major snowstorm that hit the region on Sunday, December 26.

“Average gas prices in the region in December 2011 were 8.3 percent higher versus December 2010 ($3.40 vs. $3.14 per gallon), but declined modestly during the month, from the first week of the month through the last, and were down from November 2011 ($3.50).”

The figures quoted above and others are available in the monthly Tourism Barometer, available online at http://www.atlanticcitynj.com/about/stats.aspx.