As summer draws ever closer, hotels and businesses have seen a noticeable uptick in tourists using their establishments. According to WPTV, hotel occupancy is up more than 11% over last year.

Palm Beach International Airport is seeing more travelers now than it has in the last two and a half years. The Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council is reporting a 64% increease in tourist activity over last year.

Nathan and Laura Foeller, visitors from Pennsylvania for a business trip said, “Everybody is itching to get out at some point. Forget about all the potential issues or problems, we just want to go somewhere,”.

The Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council has also seen an increase in bed tax collections.

Glenn Jergensen, the executive director for the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council, told WPTV, “We came in at $11.4 million for the month and that is about 56% higher than last year’s same month,”.

Despite inflation now sitting at 8.3%, Jergensen is predicting a busy summer for businesses.

The biggest hurdle for the county to clear now is getting back to full employment. Currently there is a shortage of about 4,000 hospitality workers.