‘We are booming:’ St. Augustine sees boost in tourism, economy since height of pandemic

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Following three long years of COVID restrictions, tourism has rebounded and is back boosting the St. Augustine economy. The Ancient City has seen its tourism revenue double since the height of the pandemic.

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The Covid pandemic not only impacted public health, but it virtually shut down tourism in many areas. But numbers now show St. Augustine has doubled its tourism numbers since 2020.

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“When COVID started, we were terrified of what that meant for tourism here in St. Augustine,” Florida’s Historic Coast President and Chief Executive Officer, Susan Phillips. said. “Surprisingly enough it was a huge increase for us in travel.”

Phillips acknowledged the ancient city has seen a spike in tourism.

“2020 was crazy busy. 2021 and 2022 you kept hearing these double-digit increases every year,” she said. “This year we saw that we were softening a little bit. Nevertheless, it has been fantastic here in Saint Johns County for several years despite COVID.”

A spokesperson for Old Town Trolleys said because of Nights of Lights, their services thrived during and after COVID.

“People are coming out four nights of lights,” Old Town Trolleys General Manager, Dave Chatterton said. “We are so many people that have moved into the county that will be experiencing nights of lights this year their first time as a resident.”

A service manager at River and Fort Restaurant and Rooftop Lounge said business is up 20%.

“Every day we’re on a wait, Elizabeth Escobar said. “We just started doing reservations a couple months ago which has been helping business out a lot.”

One family who’s visiting from Washington D.C. said trips to St. Augustine have been a family affair for years.

“We watched the children grow up and it’s something that they look forward to now that they are adults, Charles and Maureen Tapp said. “We watch the city grow, we watched our children grow, and we’ve grown together.”

Another family visiting the Ancient City for the first time from London, England loved their visit.

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“It is such a charming little place to come,” Stephen Alconck said. “A nice little time with everything you would want in it,” said Stephen Alconck.”

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