Deciding what to do for March Break can be tricky, but the appeal of a “stay-cation,” is stronger than ever this year for Nova Scotians.
“Stay-cations are awesome because you don’t have to go too far. We can just pack the kids up. We don’t have to catch a plane, we’re spending money at home supporting local businesses, which is great and really getting to know Halifax,” said Karry Morrison, travelling from Sydney, Cape Breton with her family.
They were visiting the Dartmouth Sportsplex for a swim on Monday, a place that’s expected to see up to 350 people during its peak hours.
“It can be a bit chaotic, it’s definitely one of the busier times of the year. A lot of people are out and about trying new things in the area,” said Greg MacIsaac, the Program Director for the facility.
March break camps across the city are full, including a horse riding program at the Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers club.
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“It’s definitely unique because we’re in the middle of the city. So it’s a lot of city kids learning how to be around horses and how to take care of large animals and how to ride,” said Emma Frost, one of the camp instructors.
While some people opted to stay close to home, travel agencies have experienced a busy booking season.
“It’s one of the busiest times of the year, the leading up to it especially with the bookings and getting people ready to go,” said Karla Hatifield, a Senior Travel Consultant with Maritime Travel.
Hatifield says people were booking less trips to American destinations like Florida, but the all-inclusive resorts didn’t see much of a decline in bookings.
“The all-inclusive prices were up this year but people still mentally were prepared that ‘I’m taking a vacation’ so they just seemed to find the couple hundred extra dollars that maybe it was,” Hatfield said.
March break runs until the end of this week and means local school board students have the week off.
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