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Experts Warn About Risks of Labor Day Travel

Courtesy Saffron Blaze
/
Wikimedia Commons

The upcoming holiday weekend usually spurs quite a bit of travel as Central New Yorkers want to get one last trip out of the summer.  This year the watch words for Labor Day might be “Close To Home.” 

AAA of Western and Central New York see people likely to do no more than a limited car trip.  Travel Director Brian Murray is finding people and families focused on nearby vacation spots.

“The Thousand Islands and Adirondack regions are the top destinations, along with other areas within New York State, such as the Finger Lakes, the Catskills, Lake George and the Niagara Falls Area,” Murray said. “Travel within New York has been extremely popular as residents look to avoid a quarantine.”

Murray adds people are still planning to go to Maine, Orlando and National Parks out in the Western U.S., but in much smaller numbers. He says many people cancelled trips in the spring due to the pandemic, so there’s pent-up demand. 

AAA Communications Director Elizabeth Carey notes any increase in travel as people get more comfortable is not doing much to boost business at local airports.

“From speaking with the local airports - Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse - they’re operating at about one seventh of last year’s capacity so it definitely is down significantly, but we have so many requests for road trip information from over the summer that it was hard to keep up with all the demand.”

Experts recommend packing masks and sanitizers first and know about COVID-19 safety protocols at any destination. 

State Police are also reminding motorists that they’ll be out with increased patrols through the holiday looking for distracted and impaired driving.

Additionally, New York State’s travel advisory including a mandatory quarantine is still in place for travelers returning from any of the 33 states deemed ‘hot’.