ORLANDO, Fla. — Even though many events across Central Florida are called off, the travel app TripIt indicates Labor Day bookings for flights and hotels targeting Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale went up for those cities ahead of the weekend.

Thousands of people also are expected to pass through Orlando International Airport, but normally large crowds are not as big this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airport officials said they would not estimate how many people would pass through the airport over the holiday weekend, but departure numbers they provided indicated they could see as much as a 70 percent drop from last year.

Cody and Val Hardin of Alabama had not traveled on a plane in more than four months but said they came to town as part of a birthday celebration.

“She surprised me last night with Universal and Disney tickets so it was amazing,” Cody Hardin said. “I love those places.”

Orlando is a special place for them. They spent their honeymoon in the area last year. This trip is a little different, and they packed extra items for safety.

“I brought hand sanitizer wipes to wipe down everything and follow procedures as much as we can,” Val Hardin said.

While the number of flights have dropped, hotel reservation rates in the Orlando area are at their highest levels since February, with some hitting more than 50 percent capacity. 

“I hope that these numbers will stay in good shape for our hotels," said Keri Burns, the regional director of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. "After Labor Day, we typically see a little bit of a fall off because everybody around the country is going back to school and people are coming off their vacations. But this isn’t a typical year, so we’ll see how it goes. I feel pretty optimistic we’re going to start seeing an increase in the numbers a little bit,” Burns said.

Back at Orlando International, Natalie Wai was on her way home to Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday after spending some time at Disney World. It was the first time she’s come this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and she said it felt good to be able to take a trip over Labor Day after the pandemic put a halt to most travel.

“I wasn’t nervous. Disney World, as far as guidelines, safety guidelines, they were really on top of everything, more so than I’ve seen anywhere else, so it felt really safe and secure,” Wai said.

The airport is also taking extra precautions to protect visitors. Shields are now up going through security, and signs instruct people to follow social distancing rules.

While the Hardins said their flight had a good amount of people on it, lines at other baggage claims had fewer people, and throughout Friday, wait times going through security were not long.