Water based recreational and tourism activities are said to be worth approximately 2 billion dollars annually to the New Jersey economy. Much of the limited research available regarding the financial gains that the New Jersey, or more specifically Jersey City, receives from recreational boaters tends however, to overlook the role of the transient boater.
A transient boater is defined as a vessel that visits an area for a short amount of time. In some areas transient boaters have been said to stay for up to five months, however it is here that the line tends to blur between transient and live-aboard vessels.
The Jersey City region has numerous marinas geared toward transient clientele, especially during the summer boating months however, basically no in depth studies have been undertaken to determine the economical impact of these visitors, or to better cater Jersey City transient dockage options to them.
JERSEY CITY TRANSIENT DOCKAGE
What is known about transient vessels in and around Jersey City has been mainly compiled during marina marketing surveys and developmental proposals. It is said that there are generally two groups of transient boaters that patronize Jersey City marinas, the first of these being 40 to 120 foot long range cruisers, and the second being smaller weekend cruisers of 20 to 40 feet in length.
Almost no information is available however, regarding the economical influence that transient boaters have on the Jersey City economy. Maryland, an arguably less popular destination for transient travelers has however, undertaken numerous studies to determine the economical impact of transient boaters on their economy.
These studies have reported that during 2004 Maryland had 4900 transient slips available for vessels. This was 11.1 percent of the total 44,103 slips in the state. If these figures are utilized regarding Jersey City marinas, and it is proposed that approximately 2000 total dockage opportunities are available at marinas in the region (Marina, 2006). It could consequently be estimated that roughly 220 transient dockage sites are utilized by transient vessels at some time during the year.
The Maryland study also estimated the value of transient vessels to the local economy and found that the average slip is utilized by 5.3 different vessels every year, with each craft being worth approximately $5800 to the local financial system. This would give Jersey City a total of approximately 1166 transient visitors per year, with an economical worth of approximately 6.75 million dollars.
These figures however, are believed to be a gross underestimation of the actual worth of these vessels due to the fact that the Jersey City-New York City region is, as stated, a much more popular tourist destination than Maryland. The fact that very little data was available regarding the number of transient slips available in the Jersey area is also believed to have resulted in an underestimation of transient vessel economical worth.
It may therefore by proposed that significant evidence exists regarding the economical importance of transient visitors to the Jersey City region, which consequently directly effects the value and importance of Jersey City transient dockage. It is therefore put forward that the value of transient visitors in this region be studied in order to better understand and cater for transient vessels.