KENTUCKY — Kentucky’s Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Mike Berry joins In Focus Kentucky to share details about why he believes tourism in the Commonwealth will rebound in a big way to wrap up this summer and start fall.

Berry recently appeared in front of a subcommittee of state lawmakers and explained the toll that the pandemic took on the tourism, travel and hospitality industries.

Kentucky is expected to suffer $2-3 billion in revenue losses from tourism because of the pandemic, according to officials.

"But the silver lining, or the light at the end of the tunnel, is that we're seeing travel businesses saying that they're starting travel again and they're starting it in this third quarter of 2021, and we really expect it to rebound in the fourth quarter of this year, and on in the next year. So we're seeing a lot of bookings for people coming in," explained Berry.

Berry said the next big economic driver for the Commonwealth's tourism department is the Kentucky State Fair happening Aug. 19-29 at the Kentucky Expo Center in Lousiville.