REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - Southern Delaware Tourism says it is feeling the impact of COVID-19 on the industry already. The agency has precautionary canceled and postponed many events across Sussex County due to this outbreak.
“Tourism, the hospitality industry, economically are on the front lines of this so already, day by day, the dominoes continue to fall as this crisis mounts, and we are in kind of this holding pattern right now,” says Scott Thomas, Executive Director of Southern Delaware Tourism.
The agency is doing its best to stay connected to business partners and keeping visitors informed.
“Tourism generates $2.1 billion into the county’s economy, supports 18,000 jobs just in the county, and already many of those have been impacted. We are doing the best we can to help these businesses to stay afloat, weather this storm, and hopefully help bring all these visitors back so we can get back on track again and still have great seasons ahead," says Thomas.
Matt Carter of Quest Adventures and Fitness says while it is early in the season, the uncertainty still remains, especially with seasonal employees and visitors.
“Until we see how people want to travel, ideally they’re going to want to get out of their homes ... [my] other thoughts were, this is maybe really impacting the economy. And they say 'hey we are not going to vacation far this year, or we are not going to vacation for the summer,'” says Carter.
Carter is staying prepared and looking ahead to the summer season by offering reservations and refunds, if needed.
“We want the customers to still plan ahead, and we can make reservations, and I'm not going to hold them to it. Let’s be optimistic, look ahead,” says Carter.
Scott Thomas says when things clear up, he wants visitors to keep Southern Delaware in mind as their summer destination. Both organizations are focused on getting through this time as a community.
Click here for the list of Southern Delaware Tourism's COVID-19 precautionary cancellations and postponements.