Columnist Susan Snyder: Vacation habits are a real trip

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 8:26 a.m.

NYAAA, NYAAAAA.

I'm on vacaaation, and you're not.

Even if you are, you're sitting at home reading this tripe rather than romping on the beach or lounging on the deck of a cruise ship.

Kara Goff of Henderson hopes to be lounging on a cruise ship sometime soon. If she does, the 26-year-old waitress can count her vacation as one of the 230 million the Travel Industry Association of America predicts U.S. residents will take this summer.

"We're going to go on a cruise to Mexico or the Caribbean," Goff said as she plopped another round of soft drinks onto the table. "Mexico is cheaper. But the Caribbean is so beautiful. I've been there before, and I want to take my boyfriend over there."

Even in summer, the Las Vegas Valley is a popular travel destination. But where do we like to go when wanderlust strikes?

"This year Italy's been very, very popular," said Kathy Hinkle, a travel consultant for Carlson-Wagonlit Green Valley Travel agency. "And Hawaii. I've had more requests for Hawaii this year than last year."

New Zealand and Australia are also topping the list of getaways for Southern Nevadans, which Hinkle suspects is a result of "Survivor 2: The Australian Outback" being staged there earlier this year.

"It's all about what they're watching on TV or what they read," she said. "And they want to go some place with a beach. You always do a lot of Hawaii (itineraries) in Las Vegas."

Fernando Salazar, a travel consultant with Discover Travel in Las Vegas, says Hawaii and Mexico are hot among his clients, too.

"You can do Hawaii for about $700, and that includes air, hotel and transfers. Mexico is about the same," Salazar said. "You fly three or four hours, and you're there. You've got the beaches and everything."

If beaches are so popular, it kind of makes you wonder why Hawaii and Florida are second and third nationally in terms of how much money each state spends on promoting tourism, according to the travel industry association's figures.

Hawaii spent $61 million hawking its sunny beaches this year, and Florida tourism officials spent $59.8 million.

Nevada didn't make the the top 10. But, hey, when people know you've got it, why spend a lot to flaunt it?

Illinois, on the other hand, is spending the most -- $61.1 million -- to attract visitors.

Gee, and they have the Cubs and everything.

(Oh, it's a joke. Don't call. I'm not here to answer anyway.)

However, a lack of faith in the economy will keep about 10.3 million, or 7 percent, of U.S. vacationers closer to or at home this summer, according to a poll by the travel industry group.

Twice as many -- 19.2 million -- said gas prices are deterring them from venturing out of or far from their hometowns, the poll says.

Cruises and European tours seem most popular next to beach vacations for Las Vegas locals, travel planners said.

Well, not for this girl. As you read this I am halfway through a weeklong bicycle tour of southern Colorado. We pedaled 65 miles, climbed 5,500 feet, and "get to" sleep on the ground.

Your old La-Z-Boy recliner is looking pretty good from here.