Small businesses lifted by return of summer tourists

Small businesses in the U.S. that depend on tourism and vacationers say business is bouncing back, as Americans rebook postponed trips and spend freely on food, entertainment and souvenirs.

U.S. states and cities have loosened many of their restrictions on crowd size and mask-wearing, a positive sign for businesses that struggled for more than a year.

Still, the return to a pre-pandemic “normal” is a way off. For one thing, there are few business travelers and international tourists. And if a surge of the more contagious variant of the coronavirus forces states to reenact restrictions or lockdowns, the progress might be lost.