Decorah sees signs of healthy tourism this summer

It appears to me that Decorah's economy will do better than expected this summer.

I'm making that judgement based on the number of tourists who have been visiting our fair community in recent weeks--people staying at the Pulpit Rock Campground, people riding the Trout Run Trail, people stopping in the stores and restaurants along Water Street.

Tourism industry experts say the people they've surveyed are planning day trips this summer instead of extended week-long vacations and are visiting smaller towns instead of the big cities where COVID-19 is perceived to be more of a risk.

Of course, any influx of tourists would necessitate a balancing act between wanting local businesses to do well and wanting to avoid a "bump" in coronavirus cases.

There are currently no active COVID-19 patients in Winneshiek County, which you have to think also plays a role in attracting out-of-towners to Decorah, along with the vibrant business sector and all the tourist attractions.

Speaking of tourist attractions, The Answer Person has a question for anyone who might know the answer: "How did Dunnings Spring suddenly become such a HUGE tourist attraction?"  So many people are visiting the park which used to get only modest traffic that no parking signs have been put up along the road and informational signs have been put up at the entrance.  It's nice to see so many people suddenly wanting to visit Dunnings Spring--but why the surge in popularity??