ESCANABA — Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, summer tourism numbers in the Upper Peninsula are not expected to be quite as high as they were last year. However, Executive Director of the Upper Peninsula Travel & Recreation Association (UPTRA) Tom Nemacheck said the region has been welcoming many visitors recently.

According to Nemacheck, local tourism numbers began growing when travel bans in Michigan were lifted.

“Right around Memorial Day, it started to increase quite a bit,” he said.

The trend has not changed since then.

“Fourth of July weekend was extremely busy, and it’s basically continued to be extremely busy,” Nemacheck said.

Though some areas of the Upper Peninsula have been busier than others this summer, Nemacheck said tourism has been up across the board as of late.

“Every area’s experiencing quite a bit of traffic,” he said.

Despite this spike in tourism, UPTRA had been expecting a “record” summer in 2020 before the pandemic arrived in the United States.

“It would have been better than this, because the weather has been pretty spectacular,” Nemacheck said.

As tourism had a slow start in June and was nearly nonexistent in May, Nemacheck said the season would be considered successful by UPTRA if tourism numbers came in at 70 to 80 percent of what they were last year.

Generally speaking, many people who visit the Upper Peninsula come from other states in the Great Lakes region. This summer, higher-than-average numbers of U.P. tourists have come from further away.

“We’re seeing a lot of states that we would not normally see,” Nemacheck said.

He noted tourism to the U.P. has been up among residents of Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and New York, among other states.

“A lot of those people have never seen the attractions around the Upper Peninsula and the Great Lakes,” Nemacheck said.

Additionally, tourism in the area has been boosted by an increased interest in the great outdoors.

“Every indication is that the people right now are interested in outdoor activities,” Nemacheck said.

Because of this, Nemacheck said area campgrounds have been doing very well this summer.

“Camping is off the charts,” he said.

Though the U.P.’s tourism numbers have been rebounding this summer, it has been difficult for UPTRA to get a sense of what fall tourism will look like locally.

“Consumer confidence is all over the board right now,” Nemacheck said.

He went on to say confidence regarding fall travel plans has fallen among consumers since May.