Hurricane Florence is lashing a large swath of the East Coast after making landfall in North Carolina Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that's caused flooding and other damage in several popular tourist destinations.
The storm has already affected air travel and cruise itineraries.
On Friday morning, travAlliancemedia president and CEO, Mark Murphy appeared on Fox Business to break down Florence's potential impact on travel and tourism in the region.
"For the folks on the tourism side, what's going to happen when we come around to next season? Are they going to be ready to invite travelers? From an economic impact on the travel side it's minimal because we're already past the peak season," said Murphy, pointing out that it's too early to know for sure what the long-term effects could be.
"What's interesting when you have an event like this is the impact in terms of the rebuilding. It brings in lots of dollars. There is an economic influence after the fact. We'll just have to wait and see what takes place."
"There's no reason why in three or four months they're not back to business as usual," he added.
When asked whether business owners would return to rebuild, Murphy expressed confidence that the demand would bring them back.
"In reality, if insurance is going to pick up the tab and you have the National Flood Insurance Program and you can tap into that, people continue to rebuild in those areas," said Murphy. "As long as there are the population and the draw, people are going to have the businesses."
"If you're talking about tourism areas such as Myrtle Beach, the Outer Banks and places that have been staples of travel and tourism for decades, I don't see that changing whether it's this storm or the next storm."
You can watch Murphy's appearance on Fox Business in its entirety below:
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