Tubing business sees massive increase following COVID-19 pandemic

The Lions Club Tube Rental feels people missed floating the river because it was one of the many activities shut down last year due to COVID-19.

SAN MARCOS, Texas - Tubers are flooding into rivers across Texas this summer.

"This summer has been a good summer, significantly better than last summer. Last summer we got 24 days in before we closed," said Mark Jalufka, general manager at the Lions Club Tube Rental.

The Lions Club Tube Rental in San Marcos felt people missed floating the river because last year it was one of the many activities shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lions Club roughly lost 90% of their business.

"We lost money last year unfortunately. The year before that was a really good year and that allowed us to still have some money to put back into the community," said Jalufka.

Abbott closes tubing, rafting businesses in Texas

The spike in COVID-19 cases in central Texas was enough to not only stop tubing but also from going to river parks in the city in general.

The Fourth of July is the busiest weekend for tubing, and with it around the corner, there’s a few things tubers should know before getting in the water.

"Don’t bring Styrofoam, don’t bring glass, don’t drink alcoholic beverages in the park system, that’s one of the San Marcos city park rules but it is allowed in the rivers," said Jalufka.

Another thing to keep in mind is trash. The Lions Club recommends tubers have a bag to place it in and say that their tubes come with a mesh bag for trash.

Fourth of July and summer food safety tips

A lot of us will be grilling for the holiday weekend and for the summer as well. USDA Food Safety Expert Laura Scott has some reminders to make sure your food is safe to eat.

Trash this year is especially an issue with the increase in people wanting to float. "Trash is always an issue. The more people you have the more trash you have but the city does a good job at picking up at the end of the day and we do a good job at picking up during the day," says Jalufka.

Other than trash, another issue the Lions Club sees is dehydration. "It happens just about every weekend usually it’s younger people surprisingly," said Jalufka.

The Lions Club is urging folks not to forget water when packing their coolers.

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