By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – With no school this week for students attending school in the Southtowns and the Southern Tier, many families left the cold of winter for sunny Florida.
Many school districts in the area adopted a new calendar for the current year that, for the first time, provides two one-week vacations -- the first this week and the second around Easter.
This is the time of year when retirees normally spend a few weeks in Florida. But Wally Smith of the Automobile Club of Western and Central New York said many families with children took this week to get away.
"We have seen a significant increase in people traveling, many to Florida," Smith said. "In fact, we ran out of Florida tour books at our Orchard Park office.
"That was a good indication that people were traveling, taking advantage of the week off from school that students have."
The one change from the traditional two-week Easter break is the shorter one week periods means travelers are forced to fly rather than drive to their destinations.
Smith said people seem willing to travel, despite the threat of war. And in a winter such as this one that has been colder than normal, he said there is more of a demand for travel services.