They include free nights at Walt Disney World in Florida, coupons worth $15 off at Pennsylvania's Hershey Park and admission to the Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest fish tank, all at last year's prices. The markdowns are enough to make even the most frugal traveller think twice about staying home.
"Given so many people have lost their jobs and aren't getting raises and aren't getting bonuses, it did not seem appropriate to do a price increase this year," said Dave Santucci, spokesman for the aquarium in Atlanta.
A ticket at the aquarium will cost the same this year as it did last -- $27 US for adults. Visit once, and you get a "bounce pass" to return any time that year for $15. And the aquarium is brokering deals with surrounding attractions like the World of Coca-Cola to offer combination tickets at discount prices.
It couldn't come at a better time. America's tourism industry hasn't seen a year this bad since just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when hotel occupancy dropped 16% over the prior year, said Jan Freitag, v-p of Smith Travel Research, which follows the hotel industry. Hotel occupancy dropped 10% from November 2007 to the same month in 2008. "It's not pretty right now, from the hotel perspective."
At Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., visitors can save $400 US off the price of a seven-night stay between February and the end of June. The deal -- being touted as "buy four nights, get three free" -- can be booked through the end of March, said Rick Sylvain, spokesman for the resort.
Walt Disney World advertised the discount more heavily than usual in hopes of drawing families during typically slow times at the attraction, Sylvain said.
Hershey Park, a zoo and amusement park next to the chocolate company's headquarters, is offering one of the steepest coupons in its 102-year history -- $15 off the $51.95 admission, said spokesman Kathy Burrows.
Some attractions, like Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo., are teaming up with hotels and other attractions to offer discounts on package deals to tourists who travel to the retiree Mecca for a few days. And many attractions -- like Sea World in Florida and the San Diego Zoo -- are freezing the price of their annual passes, a small gift to visitors faithful enough to come back more than once a year.
'LOYAL CUSTOMERS'
"These are our most loyal customers," said Joe Couceiro, spokesman for Busch Entertainment Corp., which owns 10 theme parks from Florida to Pennsylvania, including Sea World and Busch Gardens.
For parents like Amber Barrow, discounts are welcome news when she's trying to entertain three children on a trip. The Barrows stopped at the Georgia Aquarium recently -- with Joseph, 3, David, 1, and Hannah, 4 months.
Despite the economic downturn, "we still have to do stuff with our kids," Barrow said as she watched the beluga whales do flips and turns. "I think with the economy, attractions are going to have to offer discounts unless they don't want business. People aren't going to go if prices go up."
For details on deals, contact the Georgia Aquarium at georgiaaquarium.com; Walt Disney World at disneyworld.disney.go.com and Hershey Park at hersheypark.com/index.php.
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