Spring break: Should you stay or should you go?

By Helen Anders

A lot of Texans are playing wait-and-see with their spring break plans this year, and the result is a lot of last-minute deals as destinations try to boost their crowds.

In past years, if you didn't have your spring break destination booked by January, you were in danger of not finding a place to stay.

That's not the case this year. There are still plenty of rooms available with prices at or below last year's rates in South Padre Island, Corpus Christi and Galveston, as well as such other spring break destinations as Orlando and Panama City, Fla., and Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Ski resorts in Utah and Colorado also are offering good rates.

Austin-area resorts such as Horseshoe Bay Resort and Hyatt Lost Pines Resort also have deals on the table, hoping to lure people who can't afford to travel far.

Procrastinators who want to go to Cancún, Quintana Roo, might be out of luck, though. There are hotel rooms available, but "air to Mexico is hard to find now," says travel agent Sally Watkins of Century Travel.

Most schools and colleges in Texas have their spring break the week of March 16 this year. Austin's South by Southwest festival is also that week, and some people might be staying for that, if the number of festival volunteers is any indication.

"We had almost twice the number that normally show up" to volunteer, says SXSW publicist Elizabeth Derczo. "Our speculation was that people weren't going to be going out of town at spring break, so they wanted something to do, or perhaps they were out of a job and either wanted to volunteer so they could attend because they couldn't afford to otherwise, or to attend to network and hopefully find a job."

Spring break destinations are keenly aware that the economy is working against them this year, and competition is so fierce that some tourism pitches are starting to sound like political campaigns.

In one television interview, Corpus Christi Beach Hotels Sales Director Carla Ligon said that city expects heavy spring break bookings because hurricanes hit both South Padre Island and Galveston last year, and "we are truly the only beach destination in Texas."

That's not the case. South Padre Island's beaches are in good shape . Galveston had more erosion, although it has beaches open, including a lot of freshly replenished beaches along the sea wall. The big beaches on the island's west end have been cleaned but are still badly eroded.

Travel agents and student booking companies agree more people are waiting to plan spring break this year.

"For whatever reason, to wait and see about the weather or maybe whether they have any money, the trend seems to be last-minute," says Patrick Evans, spokesman for Dallas-based STA Travel, which books student trips.

Although some Galveston hotels are still filled with disaster workers, the visitor Web site, www.galveston.com, shows numerous rooms available the week of March 16 for between $55 and $120. Weekends are a bit higher. Galveston is primarily a family destination.

South Padre Island, where students predominate during March, has hotel rates similar to last year's - starting about $200 a night booked directly through hotels - although South Padre-based Inertia Tours books seven-night packages in major condo complexes, meals and parties included, starting at about $400 a person.

Inertia President Chad Hart says its bookings are nearly sold out, with most of its students coming from Texas State University-San Marcos, Texas Tech and the University of North Texas rather than the University of Texas.

Overall, though, South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Dan Quandt says, South Padre's bookings are a little behind last year's pace. And last year wasn't a banner year: About 60,000 students visited the beaches in March. Quandt is hoping numbers get to that point this year.

Rates might be staying high because a few big hotels, notably the Sheraton, still haven't reopened after being damaged by Hurricane Dolly. The hotel closest to the spring break stage, the Radisson, changed ownership this year and is now Isla Grand . It still has rooms available at $289 a night, with a maximum of four people per room.

Neither South Padre tourism officials nor tour operators are urging students to visit Mexico while they're in South Texas. A U.S. State Department alert warns about drug violence in the border regions.

Cancún, on the other hand, is a Yucatán tourist haven and isn't included in the State Department alert. Hart says, however, that the destination isn't as popular this year.

"International spring break destination travel is down across the board for spring break by over 50 percent from year," he says. "Parents are pulling back."

On the other hand, STA's Evans says his agency has booked as many trips to Cancún as last year and that Texans have also booked trips to London, Rome and Madrid, where money exchange rates have improved from last year.

Domestically, many destinations, including Orlandoand Lake Havasu City, are offering third or fourth nights free, along with buy-one-get-one-free attraction tickets and "kids eat free" promotions.

In Panama City, Fla., prices are about like last year's, according to Dan Rowe, president of that city's convention and visitors bureau.

"Students are calling around shopping for a deal," Rowe says.

Cancun Hotels, Cancun Travel

http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/travel/02/21/0221springbreak.html