With COVID restrictions gone, Visit Raleigh turns its attention to summer of events

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The City of Raleigh is gearing up for an influx of visitors as relaxed COVID-19 restrictions and lower infection rates have people considering a return to pre-pandemic activities.

All of that coming as Gov. Roy Cooper announced the end of state mandated capacity limits and physical distancing requirements in North Carolina.

"We were extremely pleased. It was a great day for tourism certainly with that announcement," Visit Raleigh president and CEO Dennis Edwards said.

Visit Raleigh wasted no time getting to work.

"There's still a lot to be reviewed internally. I know attorneys are involved now to just make sure from a liability issue, are the venues doing the right thing,"' Edwards said.

Even though the restrictions are lifted, event organizers will have to decided how they handle safety protocols.

"The event organizer could implement stricter requirements from what the governor wanted, because they now are responsible for renting that space," Edwards said.

As for one of the most controversial topics of the last several months, Edwards said no Visit Raleigh event will employ any type of vaccine passport to check for vaccinations among visitors.

He warns that that still does not mean the pandemic is completely behind us.

"We ask our residents, we are our visitors to be patient and to respect the decisions of each individual business," Edwards said.

Edwards said hotels in Raleigh are already seeing a rebound as well. Last Saturday they reported a 79 percent occupancy.