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Even more vacationers sought out sun and fun in the Wildwoods last summer.

During the 2023 tourism season, the beach resort destination posted better-than-expected results, according to the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement & Development Authority.

In a March 20 press release, the tourism marketing organization for the Borough of Wildwood Crest, the City of Wildwood and the City of North Wildwood reported record revenue gains in several key categories last summer, including:

• A 31% increase in visitor spending on lodging and prepared food and beverage — higher than the five-year average tourism revenues (excluding 2020 season numbers).
• A 5% uptick in spending on lodging, prepared food and beverage in 2023 over 2022, which was previously a record year.

According to GWTIDA, tourism revenue growth has averaged 10% between 2018 and 2023:

• 2018 – 3%
• 2019 – 9%
• 2021 – 22%
• 2022 – 10%
• 2023 – 5%

‘Get Lost In the Woods…’

The launch of the “Get Lost In The Woods…The Wildwoods” campaign to attract tourists, coupled with free events, festivals and free beaches as well as favorable weather, contributed to $10.509 million in tourism tax revenue generated in the Wildwoods in 2023.

That figure marks a 5% increase over the past five-year average for both the 2% Tourism Tax and the 1.85% Tourism Assessment combined, the organization said. It also represents an increase of $513,186 over the Wildwoods’ 2022 results, which were a record $9.995 million, according to GWTIDA.

Commenting on the 2023 season, GWTIDA executive director Louis Belasco said, “The Wildwoods continue to perform well above industry benchmarks for tourism growth each year by developing strategic marketing and public relations initiatives aimed at communicating the major attributes that have made the Wildwoods a truly unique family vacation destination.”

The accompanying marketing and public relations campaign – which brought back the “Wildwood Days” theme song – highlighted everything vacationers can do in the Wildwoods, from the beaches to the boardwalk to shopping to dining. The marketing push was developed by GWTIDA, public relations agency Suasion Communications Group, and advertising agency Aloysius, Butler & Clark.

GWTIDA also reported positive visitor growth to its website WildwoodsNJ.com in 2023, with 885,892 unique visitors and 1.5 million page views.

Additionally, social media channels saw increased year-over-year traffic: 123,011 Facebook followers (2%), 52,166 Instagram followers (3.7%) and 20,488 TikTok views (880%).