This website leaves no doubt that Central Jersey exists. Does Gov. Murphy agree?

As a website called MyCentralJersey.com, we’ve long been on one side of the Garden State’s hottest debate: Does Central Jersey exist?

However, it's likely that all New Jerseyans will soon have no choice but to recognize our region.

Passed by overwhelming margins in the Senate on June 20 and by the Assembly on June 30, the legislation defines Central Jersey as being “comprised, at a minimum of the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has until mid-August to sign or veto the bill.

But Brad Fay, founder of DiscoverCentralNJ.com, an agritourism guide and tourism platform, has long recognized the fruits of the region.

Through the website that launched in 2018, Fay promotes Central Jersey’s farms, farm-to-table restaurants, craft beverage makers, historic sites and hotels alongside partners like the Flemington Community Partnership and Experience Princeton, as well as local business owners.

“It started when some of our winery owners, farmers and restaurateurs would get together and talk about the fact that there were some important agritourism stories that were not being told by the Garden State,” said Fay, owner of Stepping Stone Strategies, which runs the website.

To tell those stories, an interactive map and listicles on DiscoverCentralNJ.com show people where they can eat, stay, drink, play and sleep in Central Jersey. Blog posts and Facebook posts share more seasonal information. The website was awarded a $15,000 grant by the state Division of Travel and Tourism this year to fund the digital initiatives and drive traffic.

According to Fay, there’s never been a better time to promote Central Jersey tourism.

Due to the pandemic and less business travel (which Central Jersey once depended on due to the many corporations based here), Somerset and Hunterdon County tourism is 18% behind pre-pandemic levels, and Mercer County is down 22%. The three counties have seen the slowest rebound to 2019 levels than any other New Jersey counties, according to the latest New Jersey Visitor Economy study prepared by Tourism Economics.

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But Fay believes that leisure tourism can make up that gap and bring much-needed revenues back to local restaurants, hotels and attractions.

“Central Jersey has been called our state’s best-kept secret, but it’s time for that to be over,” he said. “As the Garden State, we have the absolute best nickname of any state when it comes to agritourism, yet we have done so little as a state to tell that part of the story.”

DiscoverCentralNJ.com is now helping share that story to those in New York City and Philadelphia to encourage travel to the region, as well as to local residents.

“My highest performing Facebook boosts are the ones that are focused locally,” said Fay. “People really want to know what’s going on in their own backyards, and I think that’s another legacy of the pandemic.”

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They might know a lot more about it if Murphy also signs a bill that passed the Senate on June 30 and the Assembly on May 25, sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-District 16) and Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-District 16). The legislation would dedicate $2.5 million to agritourism promotion from the state Division of Travel and Tourism. That would be the first time in state history that there was a dedicated budget to promote agritourism.

“We don’t know how that funding would be utilized, but we’re excited about it,” said Fay. “Finally, we are going to live up to our name ‘The Garden State.’ ”

Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Does Central Jersey exist? DiscoverCentralNJ.com knows the answer