By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
They came to Mercer County in 2012 to visit historic places, eat at restaurants, stay at hotels, all to the tune of more than $1 billion in tourism spending for the second consecutive year, according to a report on tourism.
The data, collected by the Pennsylvania firm Tourism Economics, showed that the food and beverage sector in the county led with $299.4 million in sales, followed by transport, retail, lodging and recreation.
”We had a great year,” Jack Morrision, owner of JM Restaurant Group, said Wednesday in reflecting on 2012.
The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce this week touted the findings, noting that 2012 was the third straight year of positive growth. In 2011, the county experienced $1.072 billion in tourism spending, and in 2010 it was $973 million. Overall, 2012 total tourism spending was up 3.9 percent compared to 2011.
In Mercer County, so-called “direct tourism employment” as defined in the report, accounted for 11,148 jobs, a figure that remained nearly unchanged from 2011. The total reflected a decrease of 14 jobs. By far, the most tourist-related jobs in New Jersey are in Atlantic County, where there are 62,429 such jobs.
”This tourism activity enables us to create economic opportunities and jobs for our entire region,” County Executive Brian M. Hughes said in a chamber press release issued Tuesday.
Mimi Omiecinski, owner of the Princeton Tour Company, a walking tour business she started six years ago, said Thursday that she gets most of her customers from people who live in the surrounding area, no more than two hours away from town. Yet she said she gets her share of international travelers, who come for the university.
”I live here, I work here, I play here, I love it,” she said.
She said feels the town, home to two hotels, should be getting back more of those tourism dollars.
”I think that Princeton is in a unique opportunity, in that our town doesn’t have a demand problem,” she said. “Where our opportunity lies is how to figure out how to creatively work to get more of an economic contribution from occupancy tax policies.”
Princeton University, a major anchor for the county, helps draw more than 750,000 visitors to the region each year.
”We know that the Princeton campus is a major draw for visitors that includes not only those families looking to enroll their children here but others who come here for conferences, athletic camps, recreational events and many other activities,” said Dan Day, a university spokesman, on Thursday. “And we are pleased contribute to the overall economic and cultural welfare of the region and the state of New Jersey.”
Overall in New Jersey, the state had 82.5 million visitors in 2012.

