Two long years after the roof fell in on the summer rentals market in New England’s Cape Cod vacation hot-spot, it looks like things are finally taking a turn for the better. With 27% more unit rentals so far this year than there was at the same time 12 months ago, together with a 5.3% increase in the number of care reservations on steamships and ferries, this is real evidence that things are beginning to look up.

Ann Floyd, a broker/owner of Sandcastle Vacation Homes on Martha's Vineyard, said said that though things aren't quite back to the levels of 2008, they are getting very close to it. There’s a very good feeling amongst those living on the islands that this summer season is going to be a good one.

Steamship Authority boss Wayne Lamson agreed that they have had a good start to the year and hopes that interest in the previously booming summer getaway location will continue to grow.

Interestingly, some people believe that the slow economic recovery is actually proving to be advantageous to New England’s tourist destinations. Because people still cannot afford to fork out on expensive, long distance holidays to Europe or Florida, they are saying “Let’s go to Cape Cod instead”, according to Jack Cotton of Osterville Realtors.

There is also an increased demand being reported at other New England tourist spots as well, such as the Berkshires and Mount Desert Island, which have both reported increased bookings.

It seems that confidence is steadily returning, even if the economy is just recovering oh-so slowly. People aren’t losing jobs any more, and now the worst of it is over, why shouldn't they go on vacation somewhere nice? They certainly deserve it.