GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. – If the view from the Sydney Lanier Bridge wasn’t enough to grab your attention, the beach at St. Simons Island may do the trick.
Glynn County officials and business owners are getting ready to welcome tourists this Labor Day weekend. Kristine Zeh has owned The Still liquor store in St. Simons Island for the last 9 years. She’s making preparations for visitors.
“We’re just getting everything together and making sure we have the correct essentials for everybody,” Zeh said.
The store has been a fixture in St. Simons for decades. While Zeh’s business was able to stay open during the shutdown, she’s looking forward to seeing a potential holiday boost and visitors.
“Everybody, families have come here for generations,” Zeh said. “I love it when they come back and say they were here when the original owners owned it. So, it’s really neat just to hear the history of it.”
The Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau said it’s anticipating a successful weekend for tourism, but hotel occupancy is still down from last year. The CVB said they’re down 8 to 15% from last year.
A statement to News4jax, from CEO Scott McQuade reads in part,
“Overall the Golden Isles performed extremely well the summer considering the enormous challenges we faced. Although we did not perform equally to last year’s record-breaking season our losses were not as deep as initially forecasted. June’s bed tax collections were off 8% from last year and we anticipate July will be similar. The strong demand from the leisure market coming to the beaches helped tremendously pull us through a difficult time.”
Zeh is happy as well.
“We’re just excited and we want everybody to stay safe and just enjoy.. and cheers!” Zeh said.
The Bureau said it still has bookings available for Labor Day weekend.
