Delaware Tourism officials see the summer of 2022 fueling a more normal year for visitors to the First State.
According to Delaware Tourism, occupancy is trending up in hotels in all three counties, boosted by the warmer weather and special events like festivals and the Dover Air Force Base Airshow returning.
And Delaware Tourism executive director Elizabeth Keller says there’s reason to believe the state could see tourism numbers approach pre-pandemic levels.
"We look to be trending back towards 2019 which was our best year, that's when we had 10.4 million visitors. So our goal is to be over that 10 million visitor mark and be back up and running again in the state," said Keller.
Even though overall numbers are doing well in Delaware, there are still some areas where improvement is needed.
"We still have some areas in particular in the northern part of our state which really relies on corporate and business travels that we're still waiting for that one piece to come back to really have been fully recovered," said Keller.
Keller notes while Delaware’s tourism numbers took a hit because of COVID, it wasn’t as bad as other areas because of the state’s many outdoor activities.
She adds Delaware’s handling of the pandemic, and friendly atmosphere at hotels and restaurants spurs a higher rate of return visitors.