Vacation rentals saw busy summer season on Tybee Island

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - The summer season is slowing down now on Tybee Island, but on any given weekend during the peak months, tens of thousands of visitors would be out on the beach.

The high traffic meant vacation rentals were booked solid.

Keith Gay, the owner of Tybee Vacation Rentals said their busiest month this summer was July, which has stayed consistent every year.

Gay says during the peak summer months this year they had no problem booking their rentals. The company manages nearly 200 rentals and, week after week, Gay says they were filled.

Gay says one thing he did notice this year compared to the previous years, during the pandemic, was that they had a big decrease in the number of bookings this August. He says this shows they’re back to how business operated in pre-pandemic times with everyone going back to school at the same time.

During the pandemic, we saw many schools start later than usual, which meant rentals were booked later into the summer as well. Gay says he was pleased to see that this summer people stayed for a week-long vacation, versus just a couple days.

“Stays this year to last year were comparable. If anything, we had some that were a bit longer. I think people were wanting to expand their vacation time. All and all, it was a very good year,” Gay said.

Gay says he’s interested to see how next year will be. He says a lot of their success is dependent on the way the economy is at the time.

He says he is optimistic, though, that because Tybee has made a name for itself people will keep coming back year after year.

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