AAA: New England Memorial Day travel expected to be highest in 10 years

AAA NORTHEAST IS projecting 37.2 million travelers nationwide on Memorial Day weekend. It said 1.5 million New Englanders are expected to take road trips.
AAA NORTHEAST IS projecting 37.2 million travelers nationwide on Memorial Day weekend. It said 1.5 million New Englanders are expected to take road trips.

PROVIDENCE – More than 1.5 million New Englanders are expected to take road trips Memorial Day weekend, marking the highest number of travelers in 10 years, according to AAA Northeast.
Altogether, AAA is projecting 1.7 million travelers on Memorial Day weekend in New England, a 5.1 percent increase compared with last year. That number also is slightly higher than the national increase of 4.7 percent.
Nationally, 37.2 million Americans are expected to journey 50 miles or more during the holiday weekend. Of that number, 33 million will drive to their destinations, AAA said.
Holiday air travel also is expected to increase 2.5 percent to 2.6 million leisure travelers, while travel by other transportation modes such as trains, cruises and buses is expected to decline 3.6 percent to 1.6 million, AAA Northeast said.
While AAA Northeast did not have projections specific to Rhode Island, it did say that more than 831,000 Massachusetts residents will be among the expected travelers with 755,000 by car, also the highest volume in 10 years.

“Following a harsh winter, many Americans are trading in their snow boots for flip flops and making plans to start the season with a vacation getaway,” Lloyd P. Albert, AAA Northeast senior vice president of public and government affairs, said in a statement. “AAA is expecting more Memorial Day travelers this year than any time in the past 10 years as confident consumers come out of hibernation ready to explore national parks, beach destinations and America’s great cities.”
A number of economic factors are contributing to the large increase in holiday travelers this year, he said.
“A strong employment market and low gas prices have driven consumer optimism to new highs and boosted Americans’ disposable income. This is welcome news for the travel industry,” Albert said.
AAA’s projections are based on economic forecasting and research by Colorado-based IHS Global Insight.

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