Florida travelers escape cold and COVID restrictions

TAMPA, Fla. - The March-to-mid-April spring break travel period is expected to give the Tampa International Airport a much-needed boost after a tough year because of the pandemic.

Travelers chose Florida not just because of the warm weather, but also because of the lack of restrictions.

"From what we understand, Florida one of the few states that's not very locked down just like South Dakota, so those were the main reasons in my mind, yeah, we thought about traveling to Mexico or internationally, we just didn't want to leave the states, so this was, we love Florida," said Becca and Jared Gwin, who are visiting Tampa from South Dakota.

Airport managers say passenger traffic is recovering slowly but surely. Between the end of March and mid-April last year, passenger numbers were down 97%.