New Hampshire tourism officials are expecting a significant increase in the number of visitors over Labor Day weekend.
The official state forecast produced by the Institute for New Hampshire Studies projects close to 590,000 people coming through the state over the three day weekend.
Those visitors are expected to spend $84 million dollars. Both figures would represent increases of 5 percent over 2014 numbers.
Victoria Cimino, who directs the state Division of Travel and Tourism, says there’s a lot working in the state’s favor this year. “We’ve got growth in consumer spending, low gas prices and a great weather forecast," Cimino says.
Analysts say gas prices in particular have been a boon to summer tourism, with prices about a dollar per gallon lower than a year ago.
Labor Day marks the traditional close to the summer tourist season, and is usually New Hampshire’s second busiest travel weekend of the year.