By Karenlyn Barone
"The travel industry has been on a roller coaster, lately," said Cathy Pelaez, chief operating officer of Liberty Travel. "Just when the leisure travel industry was getting its footing back, in a post 9/11 world, talks of war started in the fall of 2002 and vacation travel was affected again."
Carole Kennevane, managing partner of N.G.L. Travel, Assoc., in Lynbrook concurs that travel in general is definitely down, but she says the biggest drop has been in travel abroad.
"International travel is definitely off," said Kennevane "It picked up a little recently, but now with the war, traveling to Europe is off again."
According to local travel agencies, those people who are booked to travel abroad made their plans well in advance of the war and are just sitting and waiting to see what happens. As departure dates near, some agents are resigned to the fact that plans may be canceled if America is still at war.
"People are very hesitant," said Kennevane. "I am not seeing people making long range travel plans."
Myrna Nussbaum, owner of Victory Travel in Lynbrook, said the current trend for her customers is last minute trips to locales like Florida. As for summer bookings, there is some interest in cruises, but no one is jumping to make a reservation.
"People have a wait and see attitude right now," said Nussbaum.
The glimmer of good news is that reservations for National Parks are being made and inquiries about travel to surrounding states has increased. Local travel agents report an increased interest in cruises to Alaska and jaunts to nearby seaside resorts. Especially popular are state-side trips to local areas within reasonable driving distance. Kennevane and Nussbaum agree that people are definitely staying close to home right now.
"U.S. travel is definitely on the rise and it's nice that the dollar is staying here," said Kennevane.
Pelaez said that although all non-essential travel has been affected by the war, "Americans will not be willing to give up travel for very long, it's very much a part of our culture."
Regardless of the stay-at-home trend, Lynbrook resident Wayne Murphy said he plans to take his children to Ohio this summer, and stop at every amusement park along the way. The family will travel in the motor home Murphy purchased last summer.
"Right now, security is as good as it's going to get," said Murphy. "I'm not afraid to travel and I will not live my life worried about the threat of terrorism."
