POINTS LOCAL
Outdoor fun or holiday at home expected to replace summer travel
Memorial Day weekend is typically one of the biggest for travel. But holiday travel has become another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, with experts expecting that social distancing guidelines will keep most Connecticut residents home this holiday weekend.
“We’re going to see very limited travel,” said Jan L. Jones, program coordinator of hospitality and tourism management at the University of New Haven College of Business. “I don’t think people are going to be traveling out of state. I don’t think people are going to be traveling to (our) state.”
Indeed, this is the first time in 20 years that the AAA hasn’t issued a Memorial Day travel forecast predicting how many people are expected to travel over the holiday weekend. Last year, 43 million Americans traveled over the weekend, the second-highest travel volume on record.
But this year, Memorial Day traffic will likely be at a record low, said Fran Mayko, AAA Northeast spokeswoman. She said many states still have shelter-inplace requirements due to the pandemic, while others — including Connecticut — ask anyone coming from out of state to quarantine for 14 days after arriving.
Also, Jones said, once people enter a state, they’ll have to find a place to stay, and that’s a challenge now as well, with many hotels either closed or limiting service to only essential workers.
“I talked to a hotelier yesterday, and they don’t even think they’re going to reopen in phase two” of the state’s reopening, which is scheduled to begin June 20, Jones said.
There’s also the matter of pit stops, Mayko said. Though places are still selling gas, many have closed their facilities to the public due to the pandemic. Translation? It will be hard to take a bathroom break on a long car trip.
“For many people, the amount of work to travel (right now) isn’t worth it, and local trips may be the way to go,” Mayko said in an email.
Jones agreed and predicted that there will be an uptick in people participating in outdoor recreation activities such as kayaking or biking. Connecticut offers many opportunities for outdoor activities, Jones said, and they allow people to have fun without the risk or hassles of traveling.
“People do want to get out, but they don’t want to be in big crowds, for obvious reasons,” she said.
But even people taking local trips need to do so responsibly, Mayko said.
She recommended people wear masks wherever they go to help prevent the spread of infection. Also, Mayko said, always call ahead if going to a park or other destination to see what restrictions are in place.
Mayko said she expects travel to become more common later in the summer, if pandemic restrictions continue to ease and people feel more comfortable being out and about. But even then, she said, she doesn’t expect a lot of people to travel too far beyond their own backyards.
“Trips will be community-centered and local/ regional in nature,” Mayko said. “I doubt we are going to see a lot of interest this year in international travel.”