Fewer hitting the road for the holiday

July 3, 2009 at 12:01a.m.

The outlook for tourism in Ohio seems bleak, but the state’s tourism director said the industry has rebounded from last year.

By RICK ROUAN

Vindicator Staff Writer

The economy might be in the tank, but it’s not going to stop Marsha Caron from taking two vacations this year.

Caron plans to drive with her husband to Ocean City this summer and fly to Florida in the fall.

“We both work, our children are grown, our house is paid for,” Caron said. “I guess we’re fortunate.”

But Caron might be in the minority this traveling season.

In May, a Gallup Poll revealed that fewer people have travel plans this summer, and AAA predicts that the number of people traveling this Fourth of July weekend will drop 1.9 percent.

Turnpike data paints a similar picture.

At the Eastgate exit, on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, traffic is down 1.1 percent in the month of May since 2005. Since 2005, May traffic is down 13.2 percent at the Westgate exit, which leads to Indiana. Overall, the turnpike has seen a 5.9 percent drop in traffic in May, the kickoff to traveling season, since 2005. Data for June 2009 are not yet available from the turnpike commission.

The outlook for tourism in Ohio seems bleak, but the state’s tourism director said the industry has rebounded from last year when gas prices soared above $4 a gallon, and travelers elected to stay home.

“People are changing not just the distance they’re traveling, but if they can afford to go ... looking at Ohio as affordable compared to Chicago, New York City, et cetera,” said Amir Eylon, tourism director.

In fact, the downturn economy has led some families to take shorter local trips instead of cross-country treks, Eylon said.

“You’re looking at folks saying, ‘Where can I go leisurely,’” Eylon said. “They’re focusing on where they can go for a weekend.”

Eylon said leisure travel is actually a “silver lining” for the tourism industry in Ohio and that it’s business travel, which has seen a 20 percent to 25 percent decline in Ohio, that has hurt the industry most.

“For family travelers, the primary audience in Ohio, we have the right product mix,” Eylon said. “People are kind of time-starved right now, and in a crunch, [a weekend getaway] is really easy for them, and Ohio is perfectly located for that.”

One of those popular weekend spots for the summer is Cedar Point, a theme park in Sandusky. The park does not give out visitor data, but May traffic was down 18 percent since 2005 at turnpike exit 118, which leads to the park.

“Our outlook right now is we think it’s going to be similar to last year, which was a very challenging summer season for us,” said Robin Innes, spokesman for Cedar Point.

Innes said the park is doing online promotions and discounts, such as selling packages of tickets together at a lower price, to help spur traffic.

The packages aren’t uncommon either, Eylon said, adding that frugal households are looking for destinations that add extra amenities and offer one-stop purchasing for a hotel, admission and food vouchers.

In Toledo, where the drop-off in turnpike travel has reached 15.7 percent since 2005 at Exit 64, the Toledo Zoo has started using the same cost-saving techniques as its customers.

“Something we’ve done for a long time because it saves money and is good for the environment is shut off lights and computers when we leave the room,” said Andi Norman, spokeswoman for the Toledo Zoo.

Norman said that, in the winter when the park has fewer visitors, it saved money by not plowing the employee parking lot.

The zoo has seen a drop-off from the million people who typically visit in a year, Norman said; also, inclement weather in the spring picked up where gas prices left off last year in hurting visitor numbers.

“We’re finding when people come in here, they’re not spending money,” she said.

The frugality of families inside parks is what Eylon calls the “elephant ear factor.” In past years, a family of four would buy an elephant ear for each member, but now they’re sharing the treat.

But for Caron and her husband, who have kept their jobs as a tax specialist and electrical technician in the midst of a recession, the economy won’t impact their trips this year.

“For us it just hasn’t hit.”

rrouan@vindy.com