Although inns and hotels in Beaufort were expecting to hold onto most of their reservations, Hunting Island State Park had been fielding cancellations all day Thursday.
"The phone is ringing continuously," said Ashley Berry, assistant park manager. "People are canceling right and left."
Behind only Memorial Day and July 4 in revenue for the park, the Labor Day weekend cancellations will dent the park's annual revenue, Berry said.
In the week Hurricane Charley threatened the Lowcountry last month, the park lost $40,000 in revenue. "And that was a regular weekend," Berry said.
Typically full on a Labor Day weekend, the park is at about 20 percent occupancy as tourists expecting to soak up rays think twice about stormy weather.
"Even if it just rains, it's going to ruin those vacations," he said.
Travelers may second guess coastal plans for Labor Day weekend, but business is booming off Interstate 95 as weary Floridians stop to wait out Frances.
Fran Ramsey, manager of the Point South Best Western, said Thursday that business was up 20 percent to 30 percent for the weekend and she expected bookings to increase over the next two days.
"I can tell you right now that it's all the storm," she said of the business spike.
Carting a six-pack of bottled water back to their hotel room, Richard and Tammy Adkison of Titusville, Fla., were getting ready to settle in Thursday afternoon at the Best Western at Point South off Interstate 95.
The couple hit the road at 3 a.m. Thursday morning to beat evacuation traffic.
"He was smart for once; he left early," Tammy Adkison said of her husband.
The couple is expecting 20 friends and family members stuck in I-95 traffic to join them in Point South and wait out the storm.
"I just hope we have something to go back to," Tammy said.
Families evacuating Florida are stopping in Point South because of exhaustion, Ramsey said.
"In some cases they've traveled all night and they're just too tired to go any farther," she said.
Beaufort businesses were cautiously optimistic that the typically strong Labor Day weekend can stand strong against slim hurricane threats.
Stephen Webb, owner of the Inn and Spa at Harbor Island, said he is continuing to check the Internet for updates on the storm's path, but a slim chance of hurricane force winds hitting Beaufort hasn't caused one vacation cancellation.
"We'll have waves and wind, but that's not enough to stop a vacation," he said.
Anya Chase, front desk manager for The Beaufort Inn, said the inn came out of the hurricane scare with only a handful of cancellations.
Few stores were batting down the hatches downtown, but The Antique Mall of Beaufort taped up windows and had owners take out a few of the market's antique pieces.
"We were more concerned yesterday than today," employee Terry Kelly said Thursday afternoon.
The Island Packet contributed to this report.