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Scott Jagow: So people are driving less. Does that mean they’re going on vacation? Or are people taking a “staycation,” as some are calling it — take off from work, but don’t really go anywhere? New York City is trying to encourage people to do just that. Ashley Milne-Tyte explains.

Ashley Milne-Tyte: The heat. The crowds. Those summer smells. Many New Yorkers look forward to a break from all that.

Tiffany Townsend is with New York’s tourist bureau NYC and Company. She says in tight times, it’s worth reminding city residents their town has plenty of other things to offer.

Tiffany Townsend: So perhaps rather than taking a drive to, let’s say, Virginia, you can really have a great beach experience just by going to Staten Island or Coney Island, or even up into the Bronx to go to Orchard Beach.

But marketing specialist Peter Yesawich has his suspicions about the staycation:

Peter Yesawich: Our sense is that that may be more of a . . . frankly a media myth than a reality.

Yesawich says a change of scene is a vital part of any break. He says vacationers will save on gas by staying closer to home than usual, but he says staying AT home may be too much to bear.

In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.