Atlantic City Casino Closures Hurting Other Communities Along Jersey Shore
The loss of jobs, revenue and tourists to Atlantic City due to the recent casino closures are causing other tourism-dependent communities along the Jersey Shore to worry about their future.
The business owners of the towns of Cape May, Wildwood and Ocean City are growing increasingly concerned that their tourism industry will be hurt as a result of fewer tourists coming to Atlantic City and then taking side trips to their community.
A quote from the article below sums up the feeling of many in these communities – “We live day to day, because if a casino closes, the people staying in that casino (hotel) don’t even have the opportunity to come to Cape May,”
Concern Grows in Cape May, N.J., as Atlantic City’s Casinos Close
By John Luciew
September 26, 2014
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – With four casinos and counting shutting their doors for good so far this year, the ripple effect of lost revenues, laid-off workers and fewer visitors is making unsettling waves all across tourism-dependent New Jersey.
The casino workers who lost their jobs at the likes of the now-shuttered Showboat, Revel and Trump Plaza, all of which closed at summer’s end, didn’t just live in Atlantic City.
The 8,000 or so now on the unemployment roles hail from all over the state. They own houses, pay taxes, buy cars and go out to eat in any number of New Jersey communities. How will they do those things now, without jobs?
The tens of millions in gambling revenue and associated taxes didn’t just pour into Atlantic City’s coffers. Both the county and the state are suffering severe budget shortages that could bring further tax hikes, service cuts and more layoffs.
And as tourism wanes along with the closed casinos, which could be down to just seven by year’s end if the teetering Trump Taj Mahal goes south, then Atlantic City’s losses could extend up and down the entire Jersey Shore.