LI merchants exapect travelers to stay close to home

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Fewer travelers will be taking to the roads and skies this holiday weekend, thanks to a sluggish economy.But local recreation merchants hope more people staying close to home translates into more business this weekend.At state parks, about 12 percent more people are expected to picnic this Labor Day weekend than last year, according to George Gorman, director of state parks on long island."From what we've heard, people are definitely staying closer to home," Gorman said, explaining that permits for reserving picnic grove space are up over last year.At AAA new york spokesman Robert Sinclair said forecasters predict Labor Day weekend road travel in new york new jersey and penn sylvania will be down about 13 percent from the holiday weekend last year. That follows an anticipated nationaltrend of holiday weekend travel falling 14 percent over last year's.Despite deals on airfares, commercial airline business is also expected to be off. The Airline Transport Association predicts 3.5 percent fewer people will travel by airlines between Sept. 2 and 9 than traveled during the same period last year.Glenn Petry, general manager of the Pridwin Beach Hotel and Cottages on Shelter Island, said its 40 rooms and nine cottages were about 95 percent booked - good but not great for this holiday weekend. "Typically, going into Labor Day, we should be completely booked, so there is a little softness," he said.Local businesses are hoping to capture stay-at-home dollars, with merchants looking for a strong holiday weekend to finish what has been an unremarkable summer for business, especially with a rainy June."Our leisure business is so driven by the weather," said long island Convention and Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission president R. Moke McGowan. "It's been a very, very mild summer and the weekends have been relatively wet, so it's been tough."

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