FORKS — They’re back.
The Forks Visitor Center is seeing its Twilight fan visits return to normal after taking a four-month downturn.
Visitor center manager Mike Gurling said Wednesday that about 100 people a day have been signing the center’s guest book for about the past two weeks. That’s on par, he said, for the same time last year.
As usual, nearly all of the visitors are fans of the best-selling Twilight series of novels set in Forks, fans, Gurling said.
Many are visiting during their spring break, he said. They are coming from all over the world, including Europe and Australia.
“There has been concern that we may not be as busy [this year],” he said.
“Right now, as of this week, we’re seeing the same number we did last year, and that’s a really good sign.”
While overall visits were up slightly last year, the visitor center saw the number of people signing its guest book drop significantly beginning in November.
That month had 1,749 visitors, down 40 percent from November 2009. December, which saw 1,825 visitors, had a smaller drop of 28 percent more than one year earlier.
There were 1,274 visits in January, which was 39 percent fewer than January 2010, when 2,087 visits were logged.
February, with 1,650 visits, saw a 25 percent drop from the same month in 2010, when 2,192 people visited the center.
Gurling said he wasn’t sure why visitations dropped four months ago but added that he thinks Forks is still seeing the peak of Twilight fandom, as visitors come to see where their favorite fantasy characters live in the novels of teen love, vampires and werewolves.
“When summer rolls around, I think we are going to be just as busy,” he said.
“I don’t think our numbers are going to be dropping,” Gurling continued, adding that he expects total visits to be the same this year as in 2010.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
