With spring break starting Friday, many UW-Madison students who are not heading home will be venturing to sunny and warm locales for a week of relaxation.

Deanna Schuppel, manager of STA Travel, said the most popular student vacation spots include Panama City, Acapulco, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Cancun. Many students are also visiting European cities such as London, Paris and Amsterdam this spring.

Schuppel said the cost of airfare and seven-day hotel lodgings at one of these locations costs between $600 and $1,000. For spending money, she suggested approximately $300.

“Of course, it depends on the person’s habits and how much they might spend on drinking and partying,” Schuppel said.

The travel center in UW’s Memorial Union offers two package deals to students: one for Jamaica and the other for Cancun. Director Melissa Kaltenbach said the agency plans trips to these locations in reaction to evaluations which asked participants where they are interested in going next year.

Kaltenbach estimated 340 students will be taking one of the trips this year, down from 475 students last year. She attributes this drop in participation in part to the events of Sept. 11 and economic concerns.

“I’ve had concerned parents call me and ask about the safety of the plane trips,” Kaltenbach said. “They’re the safest flights you can take because we know everyone on the plane; they’re all students or Union members.”

These trips include airfare, seven-day hotel accommodations, and optional meal plans. The costs range from $500 to $1,300. Kaltenbach said she recommends students bring $50 per day for spending money, though the cost may be higher depending on the range of activities in which the student plans to participate.

One of the travel center’s main concerns in coordinating these trips is ensuring participants have a wide variety of activities to choose from.

“We forced [the travel agency] to have things available that are non-alcoholic,” said Kaltenbach. “We’re trying to force cultural appreciation as well.”

An example of a cultural experience available to students traveling to Cancun is the Semana Santa celebration, a week-long religious holiday including reenactments of the Stages of the Cross. Every day, religious figures carved of wood and kept at local churches will be the center of festive parades through the city, Kaltenbach explained.

Kaltenbach said even students who do not visit the cities to witness Semana Santa will be absorbing some of Mexico’s culture.

“As much as they don’t want to admit they’re getting a cultural experience, they are,” she said. “While driving from the airport to the hotel, they’ll see a contrast between the poverty of some of the people and the riches of tourism. Students will be taken out of their comfort zone.”

Kaltenbach said she hopes to stress the importance of culture and not just partying during spring break vacations.

“Spring break is what you make it,” she said. “If you want to make it a cultural excursion, you can.”