Sunday, August 30, 2009
AAA forecasts less Labor Day travel
NEW YORK — Fewer people will take a vacation this Labor Day weekend than last year, though cheaper gasoline and an abundance of special holiday deals still promises to make it a busy weekend at airports and on the highway, auto club AAA said recently.
AAA estimated that 39.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Sept. 7. That’s six million fewer travelers than last year, but it’s more than the number of travelers who took to the roads from 2004 to 2007.
“With Labor Day falling almost a full week later in 2009, many children will have returned to school,” the auto club said in its report, part of a survey of 1,350 American households. However, “this year’s Labor Day holiday travel is expected to show that the pull of the last long weekend of summer is stronger than the poor employment picture and the potential overlap with the school year. In fact, it just may be that many Americans are starting to feel a little more economically secure overall, leaving them freer to travel.”
National Geographic announces contest
WASHINGTON — Are you proud of your vacation photos, nature pictures or other images from your travels?
Consider entering the 2009 National Geographic International Photography Contest. There are three categories — people, places and nature — and you can enter a total of six photographs. Images can be black and white or color, digital or shot with conventional film, but they must be submitted digitally to www.ngphotocontest.com.
The contest ends Oct. 31. The entry fee is $12 per photo for entries received on or before Oct. 15, and $22 per photo for entries received between Oct. 16 and Oct. 31. First-place category winners will win a digital camera kit and the photos will be published in the magazine.
The contest is being held internationally for readers of editions of the magazine outside the U.S., and three international grand prize winners will also be chosen.
Associated Press