Labor Day has lost its luster as a popular summer vacation weekend, thanks to a national trend toward earlier school start dates. Even before Hurricane Katrina, Colorado tourist destinations said they were feeling the loss, and many were offering deep discounts.
The threat of a national gasoline crisis could hurt weekend travel even more.
“What’s happening in Louisiana is affecting gas prices at the pump,” said AAA Colorado spokeswoman Mary Greer. “We expect to see people still traveling (this weekend), but some may not be traveling as far.”
Prices surpassed $3 a gallon at some Colorado stations this week, and President Bush on Thursday asked Americans to conserve gas.
To lure travelers, some hotels and resorts have offered incentives. Denver’s Hotel Teatro is including a $25 gas card as part of its “Drive into Luxury” Labor Day package. Aspen is offering a $50 voucher good at the local gas station to guests who book two or more nights at participating hotels this weekend.
“Labor Day is such a big drive-in holiday for us, we wanted to help offset the high gas prices,” said Hotel Teatro general manager Coni Thornburg.
In 1994, 1.4 million more people traveled over Labor Day weekend than over Memorial Day weekend. This year, national figures are expected to show the reverse. In mid-August, AAA predicted about 2.7 million fewer travelers this weekend than those who hit the road over Memorial Day weekend.
Even without the effect of natural disasters, changing school calendars have already taken a bite out of Labor Day travel.
Nearly three of every four U.S. schools start before Sept. 1, compared with only one in four 15 years ago, according to Market Data Retrieval, a Connecticut company that tracks education trends.
Denver Public Schools began moving its school year up in 2001 so that it began before Labor Day and ended before Memorial Day. The intent was to provide students with more time to prepare for state assessment tests, said district spokesman Mark Stevens.
“We felt that a couple extra weeks of learning time in the fall would be more effective,” he said.
This year, Denver classes started Aug. 15, three weeks before Labor Day, and other districts followed soon after.
Advance online reservations at ResortQuest’s 500 vacation rentals in Breckenridge and Keystone were down more than 20 percent this Labor Day compared with last year.
“We’ve seen a definite decline in Labor Day traffic for the past three years,” said Alan Cardenas, director of sales and marketing for the national rental-management company’s Breckenridge properties. “It’s obviously related to kids going back to school earlier. Summer is already over. People aren’t thinking about vacation anymore.”
Destination Resorts Vail, which manages six hotel and condo properties in Lionshead, said its traffic dropped more than 50 percent in mid-August.
“People with kids just get too busy to take a big trip right now,” said director of sales and marketing Chris Romer.
Shelly Soukup’s family isn’t traveling this weekend, because both of her sons have football practice.
“It seems like too much of a hassle to pack up the car and get out of town,” said Soukup, a Thornton resident. “We’re going to use this weekend as one final break before things get really busy.”
Lobbied by the tourism industry, legislatures in such states as South Carolina, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Texas have considered requiring public schools to start after Labor Day. The Colorado Tourism Office said it is not considering such a move.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
