Tybee Island expecting heavy tourism for the holidays

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - The holiday decorations are up on Tybee Island and in just a few days the many holiday festivities will begin, kicking off with Thanksgiving.

Folks with Visit Tybee say after looking at the hotel and vacation rental bookings, the Thanksgiving week out here on Tybee is expected to be a busy one.

President of Visit Tybee, Joe Marinelli says Tybee Island has been a popular destination since last fall and will certainly be for the entire holiday season. Many factors, he says, play into this. Things like COVID fatigue, pent up demand, vaccine distribution and the array of holiday events that are back this year. Marinelli says even though there are a lot of visitors who’ve already made their reservations, there’s always room for more!

“By all indications, and we talk with the lodging folks out there on a regular basis, the numbers continue to stay strong. But listen, we make it very clear there’s always rooms available. We are, by no means, in a sold-out- situation. There are always rooms available,” said Joe Marinelli, President of Visit Tybee.

“This was just a great chance to visit our in-laws who live in Macon and a great day trip for us, so we took advantage of that,” said Roxanne Combs, visiting from Missouri.

If you plan to be out here on Tybee for Thanksgiving day, you can find a list of restaurants that’ll be open on the Visit Savannah website. Also, parking is free starting on Thanksgiving day until New Year’s Day.

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