Gas prices don't worry tourist industry

Looking ahead to Memorial Day weekend that marks the beginning of the summer travel season, workers in the travel and tourist industry say rising gasoline prices don't worry them.

"The gas prices haven't affected any of our events this year," said Callie Tranter, an administrative assistant at the Moab Travel Council outside Arches National Park.

Statistics show travelers have long been resilient to rising gas prices. Although prices have consistently increased the past few years, cruising well past the $2 mark this year, annual studies by both the American Automobile Association and the Travel Industry Association have shown that Americans have never stopped hitting the road for their summer vacations.

"They (gas prices) really have more of an impact on day-to-day driving," said Andrea Stokes with the Travel Industry Association. "When it comes to taking your trip, they're not going to make you cancel altogether."

This fact has been seen firsthand by Tanya Milligan, owner of Best Western's East Zion Lodge near Zion National Park. Milligan sees visitor after visitor finish long drives to her park, seemingly paying little attention to the prices they're paying.

As of Friday, Utah gas stations were charging an average of $2.30 per gallon, up from $1.96 a year ago, according to AAA.

She said bookings are up dramatically from last year despite higher fuel prices, and said she expects a busy Memorial Day.

"We're filling up in the middle of the week even now," she said.

The reason Americans hit the road even as they complain about pump prices may be that when it comes to infrequent vacations, the higher prices don't hit the pocketbook quite hard enough.

"Even if you're traveling 1,000 miles, how much more are you going to be spending?" Stokes said.

And if Americans aren't basing their travel plans on gasoline prices, some in the travel industry are hoping this summer may be boosted by the state of the rest of the economy.

Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA-Utah, said personal economic outlook, not the price of gas, is usually the biggest factor in whether a person decides to travel.

And with the economy on the upswing, more people than before may be traveling this summer, even as gas prices climb.

"It is going to be interesting to see what we find this year," Fairclough said.

Both AAA and the Travel Industry Association release studies later this month predicting the number of travelers, modes of transportation and other information concerning Memorial Day and the rest of summer travel season.

But while most are confident about this summer's travel season, many conceded that vacationers may respond to prices by traveling shorter distances, and none were anxious to see gas prices continue to rise.