GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Several towns in the Midwest are busy planning for an influx of visitors in April 2024, when a solar eclipse will once again be visible over parts of the United States.

“We have been excited about the eclipse since the two-year out mark, which was last April,” said Emily Lauer, a spokesperson for Destination Cleveland. “We have a great community effort going on to get things organized for hopefully thousands of visitors who will go to the shore of Lake Erie to experience the total solar eclipse.”

The last time the states saw a total eclipse was seven years ago on Aug. 21, 2017. According to Great American Eclipse’s website, Cleveland will experience 3 minutes and 50 seconds of total darkness. Indianapolis, another major city within driving distance of West Michigan, will have 3 minutes and 46 seconds of darkness.

“There’s more than 31 million people who live in the path of totality,” said Nate Swick with Visit Indy. “With Indianapolis being such a centrally located destination, we’re anticipating a massive influx of visitors.”

Hotel room and camp site bookings typically open up a year ahead of time. While eclipse watchers still have time to prepare for their stay, city organizers are meeting with traffic, security, and restaurant officials to prepare for tens of thousands of spectators.

“We’re trying to figure out ways to lengthen that and how we can have certain events and activations happening all across our city to ensure that the visitors who do come to Indianapolis have an incredible stay and do experience that once in a lifetime moment,” Swick said.