I had no idea myself but apparently we are the best sandy beaches in the northeast and it generates an amazing amount of tourism. If you haven’t been to the Jersey shore lately you would be surprised. Long Branch and Asbury Park are upscale locales etc. Things have really changed from when I was a kid. But yes to the point little NJ does tourism numbers as big as Florida.
https://visitnj.org/sites/default/files/2019-nj-economic-impact.pdf
NJ is the most densely populated state in the U.S. Everyone from NJ, NYC and Eastern PA comes to Jersey beaches as closest direct route to the ocean to spend the summer (who is not flying out to FL). The water is not beautiful blue as in FL and is chilly but NJ surrounded by so many millions of people with that as their only beaches and Long Island way too far to drive too.
