MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – State tourism officials don’t believe high gasoline prices will reduce the number of tourists who visit the state during the upcoming foliage season.

They also say the high prices could help the winter tourist market by making it more economical for some of the 80 million people within a half day’s drive to visit Vermont rather than travel longer distances

“Up to this point when gas prices spiked over the years there’s been no correlation to travel miles, and that’s been a nationwide statistic,” said Tourism Commissioner Bruce Hyde. “We are positioned well for those relative short drives and hope that our marketing efforts will get more people to come to Vermont.”

Foliage season, one of the state’s most important tourist seasons, will begin in just a few weeks. Many visitors will travel to Vermont by car.

Economist Art Wolfe thinks the state’s ski industry could also see a benefit from higher energy costs. He says many airlines are raising ticket prices to offset higher fuel expenses and that could make Vermont a more attractive destination for many skiers.

“It might be worthwhile to stay locally if there’s going to be significant air transportation problems, because air carriers are going to go bankrupt in part due to high fuel costs,” Wolfe said.

New studies show that one-third of the state’s day traffic for tourism comes from Canada. State officials are hoping that this component of the tourism market will not be significantly affected by higher gasoline prices.