ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — Warmer weather and more daylight are bringing the start of tourist season to the North Carolina coast.
This past week, many businesses reopened or extended their hours after being closed for the winter. Local businesses expect this year to stay extra busy as COVID-19 restrictions lift and people get excited to visit the beach.
What You Need To Know
Tourism season is back on the coast
Many businesses reopened or extended their hours for the season
State leaders met at the Visit NC 365 tourism conference this week
They say North Carolina took a hit during COVID, but is ready to welcome visitors back
Don Grant, owner of AB Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe in Atlantic Beach, loves having a few months off every year. It's a strategy a few businesses on the Crystal Coast use to save money during the off season when far less tourists flock to the shore. Last week, the beach community started getting ready for tourists once again.
“As each weekend comes, it just builds and builds and builds because people are coming down,” Grant said.
Grant says they try to be as consistent as possible because they've become a staple in the community. That means they close the weekend before Thanksgiving and open the weekend of daylight saving time every year.
“It's so predictable, it's scary,” Grant said. “I can tell you within a few hundred dollars how much business we're going to do this coming Saturday based on two things — the time of the month and the weather.”
As tourism season begins to ramp up in other areas of the state as well, North Carolina’s industry leaders met at the Visit NC 365 conference to strategize ways to bring more visitors to the Tar Heel State.
The three-day conference featured speakers like Gov. Roy Cooper. They said the North Carolina tourism industry took a major hit during the pandemic. However, industry leaders including Visit NC Director Wit Tuttle said the state is prepared to welcome back visitors.
"We’re going to have a heavy influence on outdoor, soft recreation,” Tuttle said. “It’s very important. It’s what people are looking for now. Coming out of the pandemic people are more comfortable traveling, but they want to have a little more space. And that doesn’t necessarily mean the mountains or the coast. There are great outdoor activities throughout the state, particularly in our cities.”
Tuttle said state tourism is starting to creep back up. Last year alone state parks saw an additional one point two million visitors above pre-pandemic levels. Visit NC started a campaign to increase visitors to lesser parks across the state in an effort to prevent overcrowding at the most popular locations.
Grant admits it was a challenge to figure out masks and COVID-19 rules at the beginning of the pandemic.
“We found that the aquarium didn't open, Fort Macon didn't open, a lot of things were closed, but people still had homes down here,” Grant said. “So they came down, and I think we were, I don't want to say we were a last resort, but we were that constant that they knew we'd be here. So we did very well.”
However, Grant says last year they were busier than ever with people working remotely and wanting to get out of the house. Now, with COVID-19 regulations starting to disappear, Grant doesn't expect business to slow down anytime soon.
