GREETINGS FROM YOUR OWN BACKYARD WORLD EVENTS HAVE TRAVELERS THINKING A BIT CLOSER TO HOME ABOUT THEIR VACATION PLANS.

Byline: Barbara Correa Staff Writer

Southern Californians dreaming of an extravagant summer vacation have a lot to think twice about: Economic uncertainty, high gas prices, war and terrorism fears, the SARS epidemic.

That's why a lot of families have decided this is a good year to vacation closer to home.

``We usually go to Europe every year - there's 20 of us. We've all decided to stay home,'' said Paulette Burkitt, a cyclist from South Pasadena.

She said fears of terrorist attacks and anti-Americanism are prompting her to forgo her usual bike tour in France or Italy this summer for a trip to the San Juan Islands in Washington state. She said one couple that usually participates in the annual Europe trip just bought a house in Lake Arrowhead so they can vacation without the fears and hassles of international travel.

``We're nervous because of how the Europeans feel about Americans - especially the French,'' she said. ``The second factor is the war and heightened security alerts. It's been a while now since a terrorist attack so we're probably due for one.''

Southern Californians may not be jetting off to Paris or touring Egypt's pyramids this summer, but they still want their vacations, which is great news for local destinations perceived as being safe and accessible.

``Reservations are up about 20 percent for this summer,'' said Martha Travis, marketing manager at Bicycle Adventures, which leads bike tours through the Napa and Sonoma valleys and the California Central Coast, as well as in Hawaii and Canada. The Olympia, Wash.-based company will hire eight new tour guides this year to accommodate the increase.

Beachhouse.com, an Irvine-based company that places families in beach rentals, is getting twice as many online inquiries for this summer as last summer, said Gary Strohm, president.

Oley Olsen, vice president of the Santa Catalina Island Co., which runs Catalina's Pavilion Lodge and Atwater Hotel, said bookings for August are up 4 percent from last year and that July reservations are up 2 percent.

``People don't have to fly to Catalina, and it's close,'' said Vickie Keith, a travel agent at Catalina Travel Connections in Long Beach. The agency just started offering Palm Springs packages to appeal to the same niche of people who want to get away but don't want to fly, go too far - or spend too much.

A forecast released by the California Division of Tourism said that, following a limp spring travel season, Californians will vacation more this summer than last, but they'll take more local trips.

Travel within the state will rise 3 percent to 4 percent this summer over last year, according to the summer forecast by travel research group D.K. Shifflet & Associates.

The downside is that out-of-state visitors to California are expected to drop slightly this summer, reflecting the universal trend toward vacationing close to home.

On the road again

``What a lot of the industry is seeing is people won't hesitate to jump in the car for eight hours and drive somewhere, which was unheard of a few years ago,'' said Lynn Mohrfeld, vice president of marketing at the California Hotel and Lodging Association, an industry trade group.

Summer reservations for tours of Hearst Castle are running 10 percent above last year, with the majority of visitors coming from other parts of California, said Dan Eller, a spokesman for the attraction.

``From Los Angeles, it's a one-tank type destination,'' he said.

Travelers looking for cheap, safe ways to take summer vacation are also extending a trend that started after 9-11 - heritage travel to historic destinations.

Places like Lassen National Monument, Lava Beds National Monument and Manzanar National Historic Site, where thousands of Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II, are seeing increases in visitation, said Holly Bundock, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.

``So far this year we're up 10 to 12 percent,'' said Frank Hayes, superintendent of Manzanar, which doesn't take reservations.

``People are vacationing closer to home and there's been an overall increase in the Owens Valley,'' he said, adding that the site started getting more attention after Sept. 11, as people began to compare those events with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Reservations for lodging at Yosemite were down in January and February from the same period last year, but spiked in mid-April amid optimism about the economy and the war in Iraq winding down, said Kerri Holden of Yosemite Concession Services, which manages 1,500 rooms located in or near the national park.

She said another trend echoed throughout the industry is that people are booking travel last-minute this year, reflecting continuing skittishness about world events.

``You can book up to a year out. (This summer) there has been a shortening booking window, from three months to six months.''

To stay safe and save money, people are going to the California missions, Old Town San Diego and the Coloma Valley, ground zero of the California Gold Rush of 1849, said Fred Sater, a spokesman for the California Division of Tourism.

``Our efforts in terms of marketing have been focused in-state since 9-11.''

Visiting a national park isn't necessarily always the cheapest way to go, said Micaela Potter, a travel agent at City Travel in Diamond Bar.

If a family is traveling to a park and staying in hotels, for example, a cruise to Mexico can be cheaper. And cruises are definitely seen as a safe way to travel abroad.

Safety first

Dr. Ann Rubin, a marriage and family therapist in Sherman Oaks, has been taking summer vacations to Europe for years. This time, she opted instead for a Tahiti cruise that stops in Hawaii.

``A cruise is more safe in terms of security issues, health issues, because you're eating onboard it feels a lot safer and less complicated,'' she said.

Rubin and her husband traveled to Africa shortly after 9-11. At one point, they were on a tour bus and the operator asked where everyone was from, and Rubin felt fearful about answering for the first time in years of international travel. This summer, she wasn't going to take any chances on a repeat of that experience.

``Going to Europe, especially France, I wasn't comfortable and they don't need my travel dollars. I'll take them somewhere else. I love Asia but with what's going on with the disease I'm not comfortable going there.''

Stevie Friedman, an agent specializing in cruises at Around the World Travel in Woodland Hills, said the fear factor is playing a major role.

``I don't think it's the fear of flying, but (fear of) the destination.''

She said she started seeing bookings pick up as soon as the war in Iraq began to wind down in mid-April, particularly for trips to Alaska, Canada, New England, Mexico and the Caribbean. The bottom line is that if people really want to travel, they will, despite their concerns.

Cathi Hohn, a Los Angeles mother of a 1-year-old boy, booked a trip to Hawaii several weeks ago to see a friend who lives near a military base on Oahu.

``I'm a little bit scared but not enough to cancel.''

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Photographs courtesy of CalTour/Photo Illustration by Warren Huskey