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Passaic County unveils five‑year Heritage Tourism Master Plan, cites $75,000 grant and 2.1M estimated visitors in 2024
Summary
The county’s Cultural & Historic Affairs director presented a finalized five‑year Heritage Tourism Master Plan funded in part by a $75,000 New Jersey Historic Trust grant, outlining preservation, branding, wayfinding and programming goals through 2030 and citing 2024 visitor estimates.
Passaic County’s Department of Cultural & Historic Affairs presented a finalized Heritage Tourism Master Plan on Oct. 28 that lays out five years of goals for preservation, programming and marketing and identifies ways to expand visitor access to parks and historic sites.
Kelly Raphael, director of Cultural & Historic Affairs, said the plan — a grant‑funded update to a 2013 study — was supported by a $75,000 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust and produced with consultants and local stakeholders. The plan includes an assessment of existing heritage tourism products, an analysis of visitor readiness, stakeholder engagement and a prioritized implementation strategy covering years 1 through 5.
Raphael said the plan’s data draw on federal, state and university studies and site‑level reporting. She summarized county tourism figures for 2024: an estimated 2.1 million business and leisure visitors, about 1.47 million day visitors and roughly 700,000 overnight visitors. She said the county’s night visitors increased about 2.6 percent from 2023 and that the overall county visitor count rose 4.5 percent year over year.
Key recommendations include preserving and stewarding historic assets, expanding high‑quality programming across sites, improving transportation connections to Highlands‑region attractions, strengthening branding and wayfinding, hosting an annual tourism week and running workshops for local hospitality and cultural partners. Raphael also said the department received a separate $75,000 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust this year to support marketing and related initiatives.
Commissioners asked about how site visitation is measured; Raphael said methods vary by site and include vehicle counters, ticket sales and visitor surveys, and that the plan compiles both site-level reporting and broader state economic studies.
No formal board action was taken on Oct. 28; Raphael said the plan will return for the county’s formal adoption process and invited commissioners to provide comments.
