Business set for weekend

Locals in and around the travel industry said they are not worried

that the skyward path of gas prices will slow business during the

Labor Day weekend.

“We couldn’t get much better than this,” Newport Beach Conference

& Visitors Bureau executive director Marta Hayden said. “The

weather’s gorgeous, as you can see out the window, so we’re expecting

a big weekend. Gas prices don’t scare us.”

The Automobile Club of Southern California issued a release Monday

projecting that 2.4 million Southern Californians will take to the

road this weekend. That figure is 1.9% more than the club’s statistic

for last year, when about 2.35 million Southern Californians made

road trips of 50 miles or more.

Costa Mesa’s travel professionals are also expecting to do well

this weekend. Tom Smalley, president of the Costa Mesa Conference &

Visitor Bureau and general manager of the Wyndham Hotel, said a

soccer tournament in nearby Huntington Beach has helped to fill about

one-third of Costa Mesa’s hotel rooms.

He said the Wyndham is booked solid through the weekend and that

gas prices above the $3 mark are not enough to deter vacationers from

following through with travel plans made earlier.

“I think the initial response is people are concerned about gas

prices, but plans have been made,” Smalley said.

Similarly, Mike Hall, general manager of the Westin South Coast

Plaza, is also expecting a business to be good.

“We’re going to be very busy this Labor Day. We haven’t seen any

drop,” Hall said. “This year’s better than last year.”

At the Arches, a Newport Beach restaurant, owner Dan Marcheano

said he anticipated a typical weekend crowd for Friday and tonight,

with increasing business Sunday and Monday.

“We’re ready to rock and roll,” Marcheano said.

At South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, shopping center managers are

likewise expecting shoppers to show up over the weekend.

“Our business has been strong throughout the summer,” South Coast

Plaza spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said. “We expect this weekend to

be no different.”

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

o7andrew.edwards@latimes.comf7.