With economic forecasters predicting that a gallon of gasoline may break the $3 barrier in some places this summer, any potential tourism impact on Moore County remains uncertain.

Most people in the local tourism industry say there has been little if any effect so far.

But a few say that a slowdown in bookings could be linked with the rising gasoline prices, which are expected to continue to increase during the busy summer travel season.

Wholesale prices for gasoline for May delivery shot up to $1.1135 a gallon in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, surpassing the previous record high set in August 1990. It settled at $1.1042 per gallon in regular hours, up 2.39 cents for the day.

You don’t need to be a stockbroker or a petroleum engineer to know what these higher gas prices could mean to the Sandhills’ tourism industry, said Jo Artis, manager of the Hampton Inn.

“It is extremely different from this time last year,” Artis said. “We’ve had a lot of cancellations. I can’t give you actual numbers, but our business is way down.”

Buffalo, N.Y., resident Carl Reasons, who stopped to fuel up his min-van at Red’s Exxon in Southern Pines, was heading to Walt Disney World with his family. He said they decided to move up their vacation because gas prices are expected to continue to rise this summer.

“We had planned to go on vacation in August,” Reasons said. “But what with all the talk about how high gas prices might go, we decided we could save some money by going now. You’re talking a lot of tanks of gas from Buffalo to Orlando and back.”

But Caleb Miles, chief executive officer of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, has a much more sanguine take on the gas-price crunch. He doesn’t expect high prices at the pumps will affect travel until much later in the season, if then.

“We have not seen a direct impact on visitations to date,” Miles said. “If the high gas prices are sustained through the summer, you might see some drop-off in the fall.”

Echoing Miles was Pinehurst Inc. Vice President Beth Kocher, who said Resorts’ regular business has so far been unaffected by the high gas prices.

Corporate bookings are down slightly, though there is no proof it is related to rising gas prices, Kocher added.

“Some corporations have canceled various meetings, but our social business has remained strong,” she said. “Our social end has held up very well.”

And as they prepare for the upcoming Women’s U.S. Open Championship, representatives at Pine Needles said they haven’t seen a noticeable downturn in their golf business due to rising gas prices.

This may be because golfers are different from the average traveler, said Kelly Miller, chief operating officer and general manager of Pine Needles.

“We haven’t seen any downturn in our business, but the rise in gas prices is a fairly recent phenomenon,” Miller said. “If we were affected, I don’t know if I would blame the high gas prices or the general downturn in the economy as a whole.

“But golfers are a different animal altogether. They’ll find a way to play golf no matter what. Now, that might change if gas prices approach the level they are in, say, Britain.”

Fairway Motel owner Judy Kenzel had an entirely different take on the recent downturn in business.

While business has been down slightly, the blame may lie partly in U.S.-Canadian currency exchange rates rather than prices at the pump, Kenzel said.

“In the spring, I usually have a lot of Canadians,” Kenzel said. “That hasn’t been the case this year, but the currency exchange rate between the United States and Canada is just horrible right now. Actually the high gas prices may actually be working for us, because we have a heated indoor pool. A lot of people, who may have gone to the beach otherwise, have stayed with us because of our pool.