By Roselle Chen

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The holidays promise peak tourism cheer with more people on the streets, in shops, and the emergence Omicron coronavirus variant, which is highly mutated, could throw a wrench in the recovery of the tourism sector.

Mark Williams from Big Bus Tours in New York, one the largest open-top sightseeing bus operators worldwide, said that just when you thought you had the right answer, the virus keeps changing it.”

Kayak, a travel website, reported that searches for international travel to New York increased by 50% after the COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted Nov. 8th.

Kayak CEO Steve Hafner said that “there is certainly a lot demand for people who want to go to New York City.”

Hafner acknowledged that the Omicron version was an unknown quantity, but he believed in New York’s appeal and knew that COVID-19 was helping travelers to adapt to life.

People are resilient and this is what the statistics show. He said that once the government allows them to do things, they will go out and do it, and New York City is the best place for it.

On the Big Bus Tour, travelers seemed to be in agreement.

Kevin Norman visited Britain to discuss Omicron. More worrying, we must pass more tests in order to return to the UK.

“I am fully vaccinated. Ann Heinz, another British tourist said that “So what will become, will be.”

Tom Harris is the president of Times Square Alliance, which promotes and improves the intersection. He has witnessed pedestrian traffic rise to over 250,000 per day since Nov. 8 from the initial pandemic.

Harris anticipates that 365,000 people will return to their pre-pandemic levels sooner than anticipated, but he decries the notion of normalcy.

Harris stated that “Normal” is “boring”. “Times Square can be anything but boring. We won’t fall back. We are going forward. We are going to take the lessons from the pandemic to build a brand new Times Square.