Hotel and short-term rental bookings during this year’s four-day Essence Festival of Culture, held over the July 4th weekend, were down sharply over last year, according to industry trackers, raising broader questions about softening in the local tourism sector.

Hotel bookings for the entire city, covering about 40,000 rooms, were down about 15% for the Friday-Sunday period, according to CoStar, an industry analytics firm.

AirDNA, a firm that tracks short-term rental bookings, showed a similar year-over-year drop, with a decline of between 12% and 17% for each of the four nights from Thursday-Sunday.

Local tourism experts said it’s too soon to say whether the drop in visitors was due to factors specific to the Essence Festival—which, for three decades, has brought a much-needed boost

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