The holiday travel season is picking up and hotel bookings are showing signs of improvement from last year, when the COVID-19 kept many visitors from the area.

Courtyard by Marriott Carolina Beach Oceanfront is anticipating a full sellout of all rooms for the Memorial Day weekend, said Tom Ullring, general manager of the Carolina Beach hotel.

"I would pretty much say our summer season started pretty early, which is nice. I think as people become vaccinated and the restrictions are lifted, people become much more comfortable traveling, especially to a drivable destination," Ullring said. 

For the Memorial Day weekend, at least 37 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home, an increase of 60% from last year, which saw 23 million travelers, a record low since 2000, according to AAA, which has been recording the figures. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated guidance that fully vaccinated people can travel domestically at low risk, while taking proper precautions. Those who are unvaccinated are advised to practice social distancing, wear a mask and wash hands, along with other safety measures.

"AAA Travel has noted significant recent increases in online traffic and bookings on AAA.com, particularly for hotels and car rentals, heading into the summer travel season. AAA booking data reveal that domestic travel and road trips remain the biggest drivers of travel recovery in the near term," stated a AAA news release.

Past the Memorial Day weekend, the prediction for bookings for the summer are "above normal," Ullring said.

And hiring is on an uptick at many hospitality establishments to support the needs this summer, he said, adding that finding workers has been difficult.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, business was not as strong even though the hotel opened up in early May 2020, following about a month and a half of closure due to the virus and restrictions that were placed on businesses to stop its spread.

The business was busy at the time, but not as busy as normal, he said of the previous summer.

Carolina Beach's upcoming summer season, however, should be very active, he said.

That's not only true for the Courtyard by Marriott hotel but for others in Carolina Beach, area restaurants and similar establishments in the surrounding area, he said.

"As of now, we are pacing ahead over the summer of 2019, which will be the last normal summer be had before COVID," he said. "The summer is going to be extremely busy for our area ... we're going to see more visitors than we normally would coming to the area."