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On a hot afternoon last week, Carl Beardsley gestured toward rows of vehicles glistening in the sun in a surface parking lot at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Many of those cars and trucks belong to people who were away on leisure travel said Beardsley, the airport’s executive director.
And that is a dramatic contrast with what the same lot looked like during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring.
“There were four cars out there,” Beardsley recalled of one especially bleak day in 2020. “It was unbelievable.”
Now, though, pent-up demand has the airport’s lots populated once again as travelers take to the skies as life edges back toward a sort of normal.
Memorial Day weekend passenger numbers at AVP, as the airport is also known, underscore the stark contrast: 3,508 people traveled for the holiday in 2019, but just 715 in 2020, Beardsley explained. This year, the figure was 2,206.
“They’re looking good. We’re moving in the right direction,” Beardsley said. “We’re starting to see ourselves trend towards growth.”
Hitting the roads
The airport is not alone. All across the travel and tourism sectors, experts are seeing a rise in people looking to get out of the house and on the road to see family, friends and sights they had missed.
AAA Mid-Atlantic surveys showed that more than 41,000 Wilkes-Barre area residents expected to travel for Memorial Day.
AAA also found that 59% of Pennsylvania residents are considering or planning to take a trip this summer — of them, 29% felt travel would be driven by a need for a “quick get-away,” 18% are planning a longer, more extravagant trip (so-called “revenge travel”), while 28% said they could make a last-minute decision to travel.
Those decisions are being felt at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Columbia County, where the park opened on April 24, as scheduled, as opposed to last season’s late July 1 start due to the pandemic.
“As the season progresses, it’s bringing with it more and more of a sense of normalcy,” Knoebels Public Relations Director Stacy Yutko said.
“Reservations for both of our campgrounds are near pre-pandemic levels and park patronage is steadily increasing, though not yet back to the norm,” Yutko added.
Luzerne County visitors up
Regional tourism agencies are seeing similar trends.
“We have already started to see an ‘uptick’ in hotel tax revenue, based on our recent report,” said Ted Wampole, executive director of the Luzerne County Convention and visitors bureau.
“That is encouraging news that people are starting to travel more and visit Luzerne County, especially our beautiful natural areas where they can hike, bike, go whitewater rafting, etc.,” Wampole added.
“You can see it all around the county, with restaurants really getting busy and a lot more traffic on the roads,” he said.
As at Knoebels, Luzerne County is seeing a return to its typical season of community events, Wampole explained, from the pierogi, kielbasa and tomato festivals to the “Rockin’ the River” concert series next month.
“Many people around the county are eagerly anticipating that,” Wampole said of the concerts, which debuted strong in 2019 but were staged as an abbreviated series of mobile events in 2020, with musicians playing from trucks that drove around to Luzerne County communities.
NEPA tourism grows
Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Curt Camoni likewise said that events canceled or scaled back there last year are making a comeback.
“Bottom line is this: COVID-19 ravaged the tourism and hospitality industry,” he said, but “we are seeing a strong resurgence that we hope to have us within 10% of pre-COVID levels by the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year.”
“Peach Fest is happening and ticket sales are thriving, Montage Mountain Resorts has had some hugely successful events and looking forward to a very busy summer at the waterpark,” Camoni said. PNC Field is back at full capacity and the RailRiders welcoming eager families back to the ballpark.”
Officials with the Pocono Mountains Vistors Bureau found a silver lining during the pandemic that is continuing to be a boon: Many people looking to re-discover nature, driving an increase in short-term rentals, which tripled for some agents over the past year.
“We are predicting a busy summer in the Pocono Mountains as visitors continue seeking outdoor areas to visit,” said PMVB President/CEO Chris Barrett. “You don’t have to board a plane to have new and memorable experiences. Here in the Pocono Mountains we have 2,400 square miles of trails, waterfalls, forests, lakes and streams.”
Taking to the air
Of course, as Beardsley is seeing at AVP, there are many people who do want to board a plane once again. So far, though, it’s a somewhat different demographic than before, as the holiday weekend numbers showed.
“This airport has always historically been a business airport. So long weekends like July 4th, Labor Day, they don’t normally move the needle too much,” he said.
But this Memorial Day weekend was, as noted, a strong one for AVP.
“That’s a change for us. We used to be 70% business and I think we’re about 70% leisure now,” Beardsley said of commercial flights.
“They might be going down to Orlando or Tampa, or to the town where their parents live or their kids live. And I think that’s different than in the past.”
Still, Beardsley said airport officials are keenly aware of how important business travel has been, and how important it could return to being: Companies may still be using Zoom and other platforms to connect with remote workers and clients, but he expects business fliers to return.
“Talking with local companies, a larger percentage are saying we might not be traveling now but over the next two to three months they might be,” Beardsley said.
Understanding their needs is important not just to best serve those customers, but in approaching airlines to seek new services.
“We need to show (airlines) that the community — including the business community — are willing to support them,” he said.
As for service, Beardsley said flights were reduced across the industry during the pandemic, though AVP is seeing service levels on the rise again — the airport is back to having five flights a day to Charlotte, for example — though seat availability is still lower than it had been.
“Book your reservations early,” Beardsley said. “There’s not many seats out there, and if you wait too long you’re going to pay more.”
On the other side, Beardsley said charter travel also is rebounding at the airport, and a new hangar for smaller planes and jets is under construction, set to be completed this summer.
Traveling safely
Conditions may be improving, but the pandemic is not over.
For that reason, some would-be travelers are still hesitant, and the industry continues to emphasize safety, social distancing and good sanitary practices.
According to AAA’s Pennsylvania travel survey, 25% of respondents are choosing to stay home this summer, with the coronavirus a concern: 61% of those who plan to travel said they plan to do so only with those in their household or established COVID “bubble.”
“COVID-related safety is still a factor for many travelers, some of whom may be venturing out for the first time in over a year,” said Jana Tidwell, AAA Mid-Atlantic Manager of Public and Government affairs.
The survey also found that 31% of respondents said uncertainty about activities and attractions at their destinations is a consideration.
“AAA is encouraging travelers to check and re-check requirements at all stop-off points and destinations, as they can change up to the last minute,” said Micki Dudas, director of leisure travel for AAA Club Alliance.
In Luzerne County, Wampole said his agency is sensitive to those considerations, including statewide survey data showing that 68% of respondents will seek out safety and health protocols for attractions “which is why our office, as well as many of the events that are being planned this summer, all carry the message that we are making sure people feel safe when they come to visit.”
At Knoebels, fully vaccinated guests do not need to wear face coverings outdoors, but officials ask that they wear a face covering while visiting indoor facilities, sich as gift shops, Yutko said, and guests will notice nearly 200 hand sanitizing stations throughout the park as well as frequent cleaning and sanitizing.
COVID protocols are very much in evidence at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport and in aviation generally, due to federal requirements.
As previously reported by the Times Leader, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, recently helped the airport secure $2.3 million in federal coronavirus relief funding that Beardsley said will help improve passenger flow efficiency to reduce overlap between departing and arriving passengers, as well as allowing for more touchless interactions.
And while many businesses have relaxed their mask requirements, not so in air travel: Face coverings are still required in the terminal, from check-in to security to the gates and beyond.
“On the planes too. There is not a whole lot of wiggle room there,” Beardsley said. “That is the change everyone notices. When you get on that plane there is a flight crew telling you to put that mask on.”
Oh, and keep those hands clean, too.
“When you go to security screening, there are six different places for sanitizing,” he added.