The longtime president of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, Vicki Clark, is planning to retire after more than 30 years at the post, the Chamber announced on Jan. 21.
Her retirement will be effective May 30 – Memorial Day – which marks the unofficial start of summer and the Jersey Shore tourism season.
She started with the 800-member Chamber as the marketing and membership director in 1991, before ascending to the president role in 2004.
The Friday announcement does not specify Clark’s replacement.
The Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority was presented with a Tourism Excellence Award at the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association’s Advocacy Breakfast on May 9, 2019. At the event, from left, Cape May County Chamber of Commerce President Vicki Clark, Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement & Development Authority (GWTIDA) Executive Director John Siciliano, GWTIDA Director of Marketing and Public Relations Ben Rose, Secretary of State of New Jersey Tahesha Way, New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism Director Jeffrey Vasser and New Jersey Travel Industry Association President Adam Perle. – NEW JERSEY TOURISM INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION
She’s also an at-large board member for the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association, which she plans to retire from as well, and several other nonprofit boards across the Cape May and South Jersey region.
“I’m excited to have more time with family,” Clark said in a prepared statement, “especially my seven grandchildren who are growing up so fast.”
The travel and tourism sector has been hamstrung the past two years by months of COVID-19 business closures, and then hiring shortages in the spring and summer of 2021, especially in the retail, entertainment, restaurant and hospitality sectors on which the Jersey Shore relies.
“Our businesses have been forced to cut hours, close portions of their operations, and some just shut down unexpectedly, disappointing our loyal customers who say, all year long, for their one trip to the shore” because of hiring shortages, Clark said last summer.
She said that Cape May County in particular, with its sparse populations compared to the beaches further north, depends on workers from the J-1 visa program, which brings thousands of international workers to the Jersey Shore. And shortages of those visas during the pandemic have been particularly painful for area businesses.
