STURGEON BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — Visitor centers across Northeast Wisconsin are getting ready for what they say will be a busy Memorial Day Weekend.
But some local travelers like Ryan Kollberg are considering record-high gas prices.
"I travel for work, so obviously it will help me a little bit... if they were down," the Sturgeon Bay resident said.
Prices at pumps around Door County are sitting around $4.29 per gallon. So Destination Sturgeon Bay Executive Director Camryn Ehlers-Kwaterski is giving tourists advice.
"We have encouraged our travelers that once they get here, just to really get outside and explore the destination on foot," she said.
For the first time ever, gas prices are averaging at least $4 a gallon in all 50 states, according to statistics from AAA.
"We're really excited in conversations that we've had with our innkeepers and our lodging partners," Ehlers-Kwaterski said. "Bookings are up. Reservations are looking good."
Ehlers-Kwaterski says Sturgeon Bay's Fine Arts Fair and farmers' market should provide a boost.
"We are just expecting that those numbers will be really good despite the surge in gas prices," she said.
Just over an hour south at the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau, Executive Director Jason Ring says there's some concern.
"Rising gas prices does affect us in the tourism industry in Wisconsin, particularly in Manitowoc," he said. "We're a real drive destination."
But instead of heading down to the places like Florida, he hopes travelers will consider a Manitowoc beach trip.
"When somebody might've driven further away for their vacation, they might make the road trip a little bit shorter now," Ring said.
Anticipating a busy summer, he says people might just adjust their plans.
"People won't give up travel," Ring said. "They'll just simply find more creative ways to do it, and maybe they'll do it staying closer to home."
This week, AAA released its Memorial Day Weekend travel forecast, and the numbers are encouraging. The motor club predicts over 39 million Americans will travel in some capacity, with almost 35 million people expected to drive. That's still up from last year, when just over 33 million people traveled using the roadways.
