Iowans with spring travel plans don’t seem to be daunted by the military action now underway in the Middle East. Travel Agent Kay King in West Des Moines says phones have been quiet the last couple weeks because it’s spring break for many school districts. She says just about everybody in Iowa is out-of-state right now, and when they come back with their families, airplanes will be full this weekend landing in Des Moines. This time of year traditionally is a little slower, between the hectic winter travel and the summer season which will start picking up after Easter. She’s had queries about trips including Mexico, Caribbean cruises, Hawaii, and people talking about vacations in May don’t seem to think for a moment they might not go. King says travel industry executives like airline CEOs are on a “high alert” of their own, because they saw travel affected during the Gulf War and right after September eleventh. But she says they’ve seen that where fares are attractive for a popular destination, travelers are willing to go. When the people are all coming back home this weekend at the Des Moines airport, if you asked them if they’d travel to their vacation spot again for a hundred bucks less, she thinks many would say “you bet.”
