Here's why you should visit South Jersey, tourism chief says

Devon Perry, Interim Executive Director for Visit South Jersey, wants to build on recent success spurred by the craft beverage industry.

HADDON TWP. -- A little over a year after she first started working with the group, Devon Perry is now running the show at Visit South Jersey, the marketing organization for Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties. She stepped up as interim executive director after Jake Buganski left for a new job as president of Corning and the Finger Lakes in New York.

Devon Perry, Interim Executive Director for Visit South Jersey, wants to build on recent success spurred by the craft beverage industry. (Photo provided by Visit South Jersey) 

The South Jersey native and owner of King's Hall, a co-working space in Haddonfield, wants to continue to focus on some of the region's strengths and help it grow as it comes out from the shadow of neighboring Philadelphia.

"Not only do we have the little mom and pop owners, but we have some of the best wineries, breweries and restaurants in the world," she said.

Visit South Jersey also does marketing for South Jersey's Outer Coastal Plain Vineyard Association, and under Buganski, helped establish the Vintage Atlantic Wine Region, a network of wineries spanning New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Perry said the wineries have seen a huge benefit from that partnership.

The area in general has also seen a boost in tourism over the last few years as well. The region's four counties were all in the top five in the state for tourism growth in 2014.

Now, the group is hoping to capitalize on that growth and promote the region through the same focus on craft beverages. Visit South Jersey already has 12 craft brewery or distillery members.

"Everything is all cohesive," she said. "We're already poised to really position ourselves as a competitive region to other wine region in the United States. What's exciting to me is I'm watching not only the wineries but the breweries and distilleries become the next chapter."

Perry said they are focusing on the word "craft" to help tailor their message and promote the area's businesses as a whole. The message they want South Jersey to represent is simple.

"We are quality," Perry said.

It's just up to Visit South Jersey to broadcast that message for their members. Which Perry thinks shouldn't be that hard.

"The cool part is the hospitality and tourism assets in South Jersey are very high quality," she said.

However, the difficultly comes from worrying about where they will get the money they need to accomplish their goals. Visit South Jersey gets very limited funding from the state. That leaves Perry to worry about how to position the region's brand at the same time she has to figure out how they are going to run the operation day-to-day.

Perry said corporate sponsorships play a huge part in helping the organization keep going, but a little more help form the state would make their fight much easier.

"The corporate dollars could go a lot further if we have state funding," she said. "The potential economic development that could occur, and the return on the dollar could be 10-fold.

But Perry isn't going to let the struggle over funding get in the way of focusing on growing South Jersey.

"I like that this challenge is before me," she said. "I wouldn't want for the region to look at the challenge and feel anything but up for it."

Growing up and settling in the region, the area's growth has given Perry so much optimism about what kind of heights it can achieve.

"Thinking of it as a woman who has three children under the age of 5 ... too see South Jersey emerge not just as a place to live but a place to visit makes my heart sing," she said.