"It seems that a lot of J-1 visa students were coming from that Eastern Bloc," Diane Wieland, director of tourism for Cape May County, told New Jersey 101.5.
Just as shore restaurants and shops prepare for summer crowds, hospitals and other medical-care facilities along New Jersey's coast have to make sure they're ready to handle the annual influx of summer visitors.
"We are definitely hearing from realtors, from hotels, that reservations are strong. Campgrounds are doing well," said Diane Wieland, director of tourism for Cape May County.
Travel and tourism industries say New Jersey should spend as much as $75 million from its federal COVID-19 funds on ad campaigns urging visits to the state.
Twenty-one percent of survey respondents plan to take two to three trips to the shore for the day. Fifteen percent say more than five day trips are in the works.
Tourism industry employees and observers at the Jersey Shore are keeping a close eye on the rising popularity of online home-sharing services such as Airbnb, which currently don't adhere to the same sales and lodging taxes as hotels and motels.