BY LARA BECKER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Add travel plans to the list of things damaged by brushfires in Florida.
On what is usually the most popular summer weekend to leave town, Cincinnatians' second-most popular vacation destination is besieged by flames, smoke and haze.
Travel agents say only northern Ohio ranks ahead of Florida as a vacation site for Greater Cincinnatians. Mass evacuations and road closings have deterred many Cincinnatians bound for the Sunshine State. Cincinnati AAA travel agents say they are fielding many questions about which attractions remain open.
"We're close enough to Florida (for it) to be a prime destination,'" said Michael Ziepfel, Cincinnati AAA marketing communications coordinator. "Up north, it's not as much on people's minds. But here, Florida seems to be the place everyone wants to go."
More than 1,900 fires have burned more than 280,000 acres in Florida.
Fires in Volusia County, where more than 10 million people each year go to visit its 47 miles of beaches, led to the postponement Thursday of the Pepsi 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race until Oct. 17. No race had been postponed in 39-year history of the event.
The postponement has likely hurt tourism, say officials in Daytona Beach.
"I'm expecting the race will make a huge difference," said Susan McLain, director of communications at the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Other events, including a Daytona Cubs baseball game, also have been put on hold. But no knows for how long.
Last summer, landslides in Asheville, N.C., threw itineraries and lives off balance for more than a month. However, there is so far no end in sight for this year's disaster.
"There are things like this every now and then," Mr. Ziepfel said. "But this is really big."
Orlando's theme parks, several hundred miles south of the area afflicted by fire, remain untouched. Visitors there may see smoke, but right now it's "business as usual," Mr. Ziepfel said.
Latest update on Florida wildfires from Associated Press
