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But this isn’t happening everywhere.
Using Google Trends and rental home data from 265 municipalities, a Florida-based travel company analyzed where travelers may find fewer people and less expensive home rentals this year.
Popular destinations
Nine locations in the United States had higher travel-related searches in the first quarter of this year compared with 2019, according to travel company Trips to Discover. They were the only places experiencing “a true travel recovery” to date, according to the company’s research from June.
Online travel searches increased earlier this year to places such as Ruidoso, New Mexico (population: 8,000) and Niagara Falls, New York.
With the pandemic easing its grip, the summer vacation season that unofficially begins this weekend is expected to set tourism records on North Carolina’s
WUNC
A sign in the window of Max’s Italian Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills asks customers for understanding as the restaurant grapples with COVID rules and short staffing. Variations of the same plea are posted at businesses up and down the Outer Banks, sometimes right beside “Help Wanted” signs.
With the pandemic easing its grip, the summer vacation season that unofficially begins this weekend is expected to set tourism records on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
That’s great for the local economy, which relies on visitors. But a major labor shortage means business owners won’t be able to take full advantage of the crowds.
This season, business owners say a number of factors related to COVID-19 have made it essentially impossible to hire employees a major problem as pandemic-weary tourists are flocking to the popular barrier islands.
“I’m almost at the point of begging people to work,” said Charles Obrien, owner of Miss Kitty’s Old Time Photos and Gifts in Corolla.
Coastal communities beyond the Outer Banks are facing the same problem, even as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Experts say some people still worry about the potential health risks of working in crowded settings such as restaurants. And some businesses that depend on hiring foreign students are out of luck because of coronavirus travel restrictions and a slow-down in the processing of visas.