It’s still too early to know but based upon early hotel occupancy figures, there may be reason for encouragement.

That was the message from Sedona City Manager Justin during his COVID-19 update to the Sedona City Council on Tuesday, June 9. He said numbers show that hotel occupancy has been higher in recent weeks than expected for both weekend and weekday stays.

“The real question is, will it last?” Clifton asked. “Or, is this a bump because people have been somewhat cooped up during the stay-at-home order? But some good news is worth noting.”

At the very least, Clifton said occupancy has surpassed projections the city had over the last month.

“It’s still too early yet to tell but I’m glad to see that some of those numbers are at least better than we had initially projected and not worse,” he said. “Now we have at least a few weeks of more significant economic activity. It’s really increased since about mid- April. Every week we’ve gotten a little busier.”

Clifton added that for the most part businesses and patrons are doing a pretty good job of wearing masks, social distancing and disinfecting their hands.

“The good new is, especially in Yavapai County, we have not seen a real dramatic surge, certainly not one that has impacted overall hospital capacity, available ICU beds, ventilators and the other kinds of things that were a really big part in why we had a stay-at-home order to begin with,” he said.

Despite the positive economic appearance, Clifton warned that there is still plenty of uncertainty when it comes to the number of COVID-19 cases and what the immediate future holds.

“Overall there’s still plenty of reason to be cautious and plenty of reason to maintain those guidelines that are out there,” he said.