Will summer tourism return to normal this year?
The official start to summer is this weekend and Erie is open for tourism. Fontaine Glenn was live in the newsroom with more on how this summer is shaping up after a year of shut downs and uncertainty. After talking to VisitErie, summer 2021 is turning out to look a lot more like summer 2019. On March 16th, the world went into a two week shutdown that lasted the remainder of the year. The summer of 2020 saw dismal numbers as restaurants and hotels were struggling to stay a float. Even though Presque Isle State Park saw high numbers, the rest of the tourism in Erie suffered as events and activities were closed. VisitErie says now they are receiving more phone calls from people requesting information about Erie. We always get questions about Presque Isle State Park, but now were getting questions about Wine Country, the breweries, the distilleries, what else is open, what events are coming up. Its so refreshing to say yes, theyre open, yes, weve got events now, said Christine Temple, Director of Communications, VisitErie. Christine says this summer is already looking like a very promising year. For news delivered right to you, subscribe to JET 24/FOX 66/YourErie.coms breaking & daily news email list