I wanted to respond to one short phrase in a letter to the editor from John Curley describing the Red Bank Visitors’ Center (RBVC) as "nonsensical, unnecessary fluff." As chair of the RBVC, I may be biased in its favor, but under the direction of executive director Margaret Mass, in less than two years, the Red Bank Visitors’ Center at the Red Bank train station has quietly become an important resource to the Red Bank community.

The vision of the visitors’ center is to responsibly promote Red Bank as a year-round destination to live, work, and play while respecting residential quality of life. The RBVC board includes representatives from the entire Red Bank community — business owners, Red Bank Rivercenter, the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, residents from every section of town, a police liaison, Red Bank Borough, New Jersey Transit, and the Monmouth County Arts Council. The RBVC works with a wide variety of partners from within Red Bank and reaches out to other organizations on the county and state level to promote Red Bank.

It’s no surprise to those of us who live or work in Red Bank that so many people from the rest of Monmouth County, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and even international visitors want to come here. Red Bank is a wonderful town with beautiful residential areas, an active business and shopping district, and numerous entertainment and cultural events. The economic health and vitality of Red Bank are tied to the symbiotic relationship between residents, visitors, shoppers, businesses, retail shops, restaurants and cultural venues.

The Red Bank Visitors’ Center provides these visitors with information, directions, recommendations — in short, everything they need to have a great Red Bank experience. Why is this important for Red Bank? Because these visitors spend money And visitors from farther away spend more money. Cultural tourists — visitors coming to town to attend a cultural event at the Count Basie Theatre, Phoenix Productions, the Art Alliance or the soon-to-be-opened Two River Theatre or Children’s Cultural Center — spend even more money on parking, restaurants, and shopping.

While it may be obvious how a visitors’ center helps visitors, it may not be so clear how it helps residents, commuters, local shoppers and businesses. The staff and volunteers of the visitors’ center provide expanded hours at the train station, ensuring a better transportation experience and a place to sit out of the weather. They report any problems to local and transit police.

The visitors’ center beautifies the area around the train station. RBVC is a resource to local residents with friends and relatives visiting and for wedding parties trying to accommodate out-of-town guests. Even for residents, it’s a great spot to learn about what’s new in town, pick up special offers from retailers and restaurants, and find out about upcoming events.

The Molly Pitcher and Oyster Point hotels currently fund the visitors’ center through a private grant. Their generous funding realizes positive economic development for the entire Red Bank community. Tourism is the second largest business sector in the state of New Jersey, providing approximately $16 billion in revenues in our coastal counties of Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May.

Implementation of the hotel/motel tax is not a panacea for plugging up the bottom line in a municipal budget. The Molly Pitcher Inn and Oyster Point Hotel are excellent community-minded partners that acknowledged a need in the community — determined by a broad-based group from the community — and stepped forward to supply the capital. Funding for the visitors’ center needs a stable, long-term commitment not subject to political whims and personal preferences.

Red Bank has been forward-thinking in improving the town for residents and visitors alike, acknowledging the importance of the nonprofit arts industry in contributing to the economic vitality of the town, and in recognizing that a vibrant business and retail district doesn’t happen all by itself.

Visitors’ centers are internationally acknowledged as valuable assets for their communities, a resource to be enjoyed by all and an important force in supporting economic activity in their towns. We invite you to visit the Red Bank Visitors’ Center soon and see for yourself.

Mary Eileen Fouratt is the chair of the Red Bank Visitors’ Center.