All indications are that summer tourists will again flock to small towns such as New Bern and Kinston.
With an easing of COVID-19 restrictions, coupled with vaccinations, local restaurants, shops and tourist targets are ready for the best tourist influx in recent years, following two hurricanes and a pandemic. There is lots of excitement, because anywhere you read, people in bigger cities and densely-populated areas want to get to somewhere with fewer people, more open space, and that includes cities like New Bern, said Kevin Roberts, president of the New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce. We have already seen, just in the month of April, increased numbers of people coming into this market. That s very exciting, but in the process of coming out of this pandemic, it is also a little alarming to us, because mostly restaurants, but really all businesses, are having a lot of trouble getting people to come back to work.
5 things to know about the 40th annual BBQ Fest on the Neuse
The BBQ Fest on the Neuse is back.
After missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world s largest whole-hog cook-off returns May 7 and 8 in downtown Kinston.
Kinston-Lenoir County Tourism Development Authority director and BBQ Fest chair Jan Parson believes festivalgoers are ready for a change from last year s lockdowns and quarantining, but there are five things festivalgoers may want to know before attending the 40-year-old hog happenin next week. 2020 was a year of uncertainty and disappointment in many ways, Parson said. People are ready to get outside and see each other.