Record number of Americans to travel for July 4 holiday

28 June, 2007:

A record number of Americans is expected to travel for the July 4 holiday notwithstanding the high prices of gasoline and the fact that July 4 comes in the middle of the week.

Based on a national phone survey, AAA, the automobile and travel group, has estimated that about 41.1 million Americans will travel during the Fourth of July holiday week – up by 0.8% from 2006.

About 34.7 million travellers are expect to travel by vehicle – a 0.7% increase from the 34.5 million who drove a year ago. Southeasterners are expected to make up the largest portion of those travelling by car with 8.9 million people.

Another 4.7 million plan to travel by plane, up by 3.5% from the 4.5 million that flew on the occasion in 2006.

Besides, nearly 1.7 million vacationers will go by train, bus, or other mode of transportation.

Though prices for gasoline are higher this holiday than in 2006, Americans have felt some relief in fuel prices over the last few weeks, which may influence their decision to travel.

The average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular, unleaded gasoline in Washington is $3.1, which is 30 cents less than a month ago; nationwide it is $2.98, which is 23 cents less than a month ago.

According to Janet Ray, AAA Washington’s managing director of corporate communications, “this Fourth of July holiday is somewhat unique, in that it falls in the middle of the work week. Interestingly, we’re finding that Americans aren’t willing to give up their traditional Fourth of July celebrations with friends and family, and many are choosing to take a few more days off of work to do so.”

With Independence Day on a Wednesday this year, many travellers will take week-long holidays, according the AAA survey. Some will begin their vacations as early as Friday.

AAA’s Leisure Travel Index shows that some vacation costs have gone up from Fourth of July 2006, while some others have dropped. Hotel rates are up by 5% for AAA-rated Three Diamond hotels than in 2006.

Rates for car rental will be almost similar to last year’s.

However, airfares are 12% lower than Fourth of July, 2006.

Research for holiday travel is based on a national telephone survey of 1,950 adults by the Travel Industry Association of America, which conducts special research for AAA.