US holiday record travel is a milestone in recovery
US travel during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weekends will be the highest level in five years, according to AAA, which termed it a “notable milestone” in the industry’s recovery.
Almost 92 million people will journey 50 miles or more from home during the holiday period, which runs from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, says the forecast from the nation’s biggest motoring organization. Air traffic will be down, however.
Auto travel is up from 90.7 million a year earlier. This year’s travel forecast is the third consecutive increase.
“It’s a positive sign for the travel industry that so many Americans are planning to travel this holiday season, collectively contributing to the second-highest year-end holiday travel volume in the last 10 years,” Bill Sutherland, AAA’s vice president of travel services, said in a statement.
Automobile drivers and passengers will account for 83.6 million of the year-end holiday travelers, up 2.1 percent from last year. The number of air travelers will fall 9.7 percent to 5.4 million.
“This year's projected automobile travel volume is the second highest in the past decade and only 100,000 less than the 2006-07 auto travel peak of 83.7 million,” said PR Newswire.
Automobile travel remains the preferred choice of transportation for 2011-12 Year-End holiday travelers with nearly 27 percent of the total US population will hit the road.
Americans will spend approximately $718 a household, up from $694 last year, to travel during the holiday, AAA said. The average distance will be 726 miles, down from an estimated 1,052 a year earlier.
AAA’s report predicted air travel to decline slightly. Why?
One major reason is an anticipated 21 percent increase in holiday airfares over last year.About 5.4 million travelers expect to fly during this year's holiday period, a 9.7 percent decline from a year ago, AAA said.
AAA’s projections are based on research by IHS Global Insight of Lexington, Massachusetts.
By David Wilkening
David
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