Gas prices not stopping spring break travel

While high gasoline prices may not put a stop to many families’ spring break trips, it is having an effect on their budgets.

“I have been planning a trip to El Paso, Texas, to visit my family for more than a year,” Ooltewah resident Sylvia Rangel said, “and although we are still making the trip, our budget has had to double.”

Mrs. Rangel said that with gasoline prices reaching $3.16 on Friday, according to AAA, the money they had put aside for gas has gone from $400 to more than $600.

“If we were thinking of stopping to get something to eat at a restaurant, now we are going to have to take some food with us from here,” she said.

Gregg Laskoski, spokesman for AAA Auto Club South, said that organization expects high gasoline prices to have a detrimental impact on leisure travel.

“Gas prices are certainly a potential problem,” he said. “Every year we have seen challenges, but at the same time we find that as much as people complain about gasoline prices, we tend to be pretty resourceful, and especially when it comes to planning a family vacation.”

Usually people will cut back in other areas such as the number of restaurants they are eating in, or they may scale down on hotel accommodations and the distance they travel, he said.

In fact, gasoline sales as measured by tax collections in Tennessee and Georgia actually have increased slightly this year over last.

“It’s been somewhat confusing, because while other sales have declined, gas sales have not,” said Dr. William Fox, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee.

Steve Genovesi, vice president of marketing and sales at the Chattanooga Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the bureau is not expecting higher gas prices to affect tourism in Chattanooga, either.

“Travelers will still be taking vacations, but they will most likely stay closer to home. People have overall become more accustomed to these high gas prices,” Mr. Genovesi said in an e-mail.

“As a drive market, we rely heavily on tourists from within a 150-mile radius. We’re hoping that the close proximity, new offerings and overall affordability of our attractions, hotels and restaurants will actually increase our visitation for spring break,” he said.

But Steve Ray, owner of Midnite Oil in Ooltewah, said his gasoline sales have decreased about 25 percent during the last 15 days, despite having among the lowest prices in the state at $3.05 a gallon Friday.

“I think (high prices are) going to have a domino effect,” he said. “People have been spending so much money all year long on high gas prices that they’re not going to have any money for hotel rooms, clothes, the food that it takes to buy in a vacation,” he said.

Soddy-Daisy resident Raunel Pérez said he was planning a trip to Miami, but he decided to cancel it because of the high gasoline prices.

“A trip that would have cost me about $150 would cost me more than $200,” he said. “What you were planning to spend in other things such as food or clothing, now you have to spend it on gas.”

Buddy Lasater, owner of Thrifty Car Rental in Chattanooga, said he has noticed more people request fuel-efficient vehicles than in past years.

“Customers are still very conscious on the price, but also want to know what’s the gas mileage,” he said. “Usually they ask for a compact or midsize car.”

Mr. Pérez said the high gasoline prices simply took away his desire to travel.

“I had other plans to travel closer to home, but as soon as I think of gas prices, I don’t feel like going anywhere anymore,” he said.

Staff writer Dave Flessner contributed to this story.