After stay-at-home orders, Florida now seeing spike in vacation home rentals

After being cooped up at home for weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are seemingly ready to get out and vacation again.

The state of Florida has seen a spike in the number of vacation home bookings.

According to numbers posted by Visit Florida, there are 96% more bookings in Florida this month compared to May 2019. Compared to March, year-over-year bookings were down nearly 80%.

Read: Florida man charged in terror plot that targeted ‘busy beaches’

“From the moment we were allowed to reopen for Memorial Day weekend, we booked almost 80% of our homes in just a few days,” said Dennis Goedheid with Casiola Vacation Homes, which manages 300 vacation homes.

Goedheid said most of his rentals in Central Florida are shorter weekend bookings, and the statewide numbers actually reflect more beach vacations in places such as the panhandle.

However, with Disney announcing plans to reopen in July, Goedheid said he expects to see another increase in bookings around then.

Read: Reservations, temperature checks & virtual lines: What theme park visits could look like after reopening

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