Travelers facing tighter budgets have always been a good thing for tourism in relatively affordable Ashtabula County, Ohio.“This isn't the first time that we've seen a little bit of a downturn in the economy,” said Stephanie Siegel, executive director of the Ashtabula County, Ohio Visitors Bureau. “Whenever we've seen this historically, our area does incredibly well.”Many Americans — who feel pinched by stubborn inflation, sluggish wage growth, and high gas prices — have been opting for vacations that don’t involve burning quite as much gas as usual.Tourists from Detroit, Columbus, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh can get to Ashtabula County in three-and-a-half hours or less. They come because it’s home to Ohio’s wine country (7th largest in the nation), it’s got lakefront beaches and beach towns, and the county boasts a whopping 19 covered bridges. When times get tough, “people start to be a little bit more creative and don't just naturally jump on a plane and leave the state or leave the country,” Siegel said. “They start to look a little inward at what's around them.”More on summer travel costsFrom May 2026: Airfares on former Spirit Airlines routes could rise as much as 15% to 20%From April 2026: Delta passes rising costs from jet fuel onto customersFrom March 2026: Airfares are climbing because of the war in the Middle EastIn Ashtabula County, you can get a lakeside cottage that sleeps a family of four for $200 per night. Then take the family on a self-guided tour of those covered bridges, and finish a beach day at the local farmers market — all for free. And that’s what people seem to be doing. Typically, April is Ashtabula County’s quietest month. But this year, many businesses there reported higher-than-average numbers in March and April. Siegel said the county’s tourism revenue is already up 13% compared to last year — with the busiest summer months still ahead.That lines up with another trend that Hayley Berg, lead economist at the travel app Hopper, has been seeing: deal-seeking behavior. She said more travelers are blending work trips with vacations to cut down expenses. They’re waiting for price cuts, using points, and looking for credit cards with good travel rewards.“Travel is always the category that's being protected most,” Berg said. “When you compare it to entertainment, online shopping, eating out, that's the category that, no matter how strapped budgets get, travelers are really trying to protect.”With higher vacation costs, people are traveling differently, not less. The U.S. Travel Association said domestic travel is going to increase again this year.“If you're planning a trip with your family for the summer, maybe you're not going to try to take them to Europe, maybe you're going to go somewhere local instead,” said Clint Henderson, principal spokesperson with The Points Guy. Henderson said that if travelers surveyed by his company are changing their plans, they’re driving instead of flying, they’re going somewhere different, and they’re going on shorter trips.But there are still plenty of people who are forging ahead as usual.Between years of inflation and higher fuel prices because of the war in the Middle East, Henderson thinks that travelers in the U.S. will finally start cutting back next year. But he also thought that last year. And the year before.“The numbers of people who say they're going to cut back on travel are very small,” he said. “I keep thinking we're at the limits of what consumers will bear, and they continue to shock me.”