The Mackinac island welcomed thousands of tourists over the weekend, an indication of a return to normalcy for Business owners on Mackinac accustomed to busy summer seasons.
This weekend saw nearly double last year’s amount of northern travelers, with a predicted 20,000 crossing the Mackinac Bridge on Monday as individuals return home for the beginning of the working week. By comparability, in 2020, about 11,000 vehicles crossed the bridge — a fraction of its typical rate of holiday weekend traffic.
April was a record month for Mackinac Bridge crossings with 257,000 vehicles crossing, compared to just 86,413 in 2020, making it the best April since 2014. Traffic in April was up by 10.8% and fare revenue also increased by 8.6%, according to the Mackinac Bridge Authority.
On Mackinac Island a year ago, almost all of the businesses were closed due to the pandemic.
The season is off to a very good start, and on par with pre-coronavirus tourism rates, mentioned Tim Hygh, executive director of Mackinac Island Tourism, adding that the season is expected to be busy.
“At present was pretty much what we’d expect,” mentioned Hygh. “If the rest of the season goes this way, it’ll be great.”
