Some are scaling back summer vacations

Dena Feldstein Brody sketched out an $8,000 budget for a 12-day family vacation this summer in England, France and Spain. But those plans were two years ago. Since then, the dollar has plummeted and air fares have soared.

So Brody and her husband and daughter are setting their sights closer to home, renting a vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard, the popular Massachusetts tourist destination for presidents, celebrities and others looking for a seaside getaway.
“I just think that the dollar is better spent here for the time being,” said Brody, an independent staffing consultant.

Despite recession worries, weakness in the housing market and rising fuel costs, travel trend watchers say Americans aren’t giving up their vacation plans. But they’re definitely scaling back.

Vacationers are paring the number of days they plan to spend at exotic locations abroad, buying all-inclusive foreign travel packages to cushion themselves against currency exchange shocks or just planning trips closer to home.

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