Money worries force scale back

• By RODRIQUE NGOWI
• Associated Press writer
• Published: May 11, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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BOSTON - Dena Feldstein Brody sketched out an $8,000 budget for a 12-day family vacation this summer in England, France and Spain. But those plans were two years ago. Since then, the dollar has plummeted and air fares have soared.

So Brody and her husband and daughter are setting their sights closer to home, renting a vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard, the popular Massachusetts tourist destination for presidents, celebrities and others looking for a seaside getaway.

“I just think that the dollar is better spent here for the time being,” said Brody, an independent staffing consultant.

Despite recession worries, weakness in the housing market and rising fuel costs, travel trend watchers say Americans aren’t giving up their vacation plans. But they’re definitely scaling back.

Vacationers are paring the number of days they plan to spend at exotic locations abroad, buying all-inclusive foreign travel packages to cushion themselves against currency exchange shocks or just planning trips closer to home.

“They are trading down, but they are not trading out,” said Peter Yesawich, CEO and trend analyst for YPartnership, a marketing company specializing in travel.

Money is certainly tighter for travelers this year. Gas prices are now are near record highs — averaging $3.32 per gallon compared with $2.59 this time last year — and analysts expect prices could jump another 75 cents a gallon over the next two months. And the dollar is struggling against the euro, valued at almost $1.60 now compared with $1.33 this time last year.

That reality caused Cathy Bielawski, an insurance executive in Clifton Park, N.Y., to reconsider her plans. She had hoped to take in the landscapes, nature reserves, wine and art of the Tuscany region of Italy — but booked a seaside home on Martha’s Vineyard instead because of the soaring euro.

“Originally, I thought I could probably do the trip for $5,000 to $6,000, and after looking at the numbers, it was closer to $9,000,” said Bielawski, 49. “I just don’t want to be spending this much money in Tuscany. I’d rather spend less money to have an enjoyable experience at home.”

Nationwide summer travel booking figures compiled by AAA show most of the leading destinations this year are not linked to the British pound or the euro, said Mike Pina, the association’s national spokesman.

The top spots included Orlando, Fla.; Cancun, Mexico; Honolulu and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

The number of Americans booking trips to Ireland dropped by at least 20 percent, a decline rivaled only by that following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Brennan Breene, reservations manager for VisitIreland.com. The trend is particularly hard-hitting since Americans are the biggest-spending visitors to the country, he said.

Tour bookings to Europe through the AAA, however, are up nearly 5 percent for summer travel in 2008 versus travel in 2007 — with the top destinations being London; Rome; Dublin, Ireland; Paris; and Athens, Greece, Pina said.