Easter Holidays Have Tourist Spots Hopping

James Payne wants to work his crossword puzzles, but people keep asking him for gingerbread cookies.

“I keep trying to do my puzzle, but people keep showing up,” he said Wednesday.

Payne operates Gingerbread Lady, one of the many vending carts scattered throughout Horton Plaza. People always seem to enjoy a good cookie, but this week Payne has seen even more people than usual, and the crowds have been interrupting his crossword hobby.

The Easter holidays are here. Though none of San Diego’s major tourist attractions have been flooded with tourists, most are doing better than a year ago, helped in part by the many people who are taking advantage of airline fare wars to escape frigid climes and bask in the city’s balmy weather.

“The Easter bunny has indeed come to Frontier,” said Marilyn Mishkin, a spokeswoman for the airlines.

She said that all of Frontier’s flights to San Diego have been at least 80% full during the past week. Though she didn’t have comparable figures for a year ago, Mishkin said that “just three months ago it was only 50% . . . . Essentially, what we’re seeing is a tremendous response to the fare cuts.”

At the San Diego Zoo, business was better than last year, but the increase was not dramatic. Georgeanne Irvine, zoo public relations coordinator, said 15,550 people have visited the zoo during the holidays compared with 13,745 last year.

San Diego’s Wild Animal Park is doing better as well, said park spokeswoman Martha Baker. Last year, 14,836 people visited the Wild Animal Park during the first four days of the Easter holidays; this year the figure is up to 21,591.

“We’re hoping the weather holds . . . . We think that’s why we’ve had such good crowd response,” said Baker.