A Huge Spike in U.S. Travel Predicted for Memorial Day Weekend

An estimated 37 million travelers are expected to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend.

As vaccinations continue to roll out, more and more Americans are deciding to venture out at least 50 miles from their homes over the holiday weekend says AAA Travel.

This is a huge surge–an increase of 60 percent–in comparison to the same time last year. Between May 27 and May 31, 2020 only 23 million Americans traveled by car amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the lowest number on record.

Numbers are still down from 2019, however, the spike in Memorial Day travel is an indicator that summer travel will also see much higher peaks than the summer of 2020.

A travel trend is also emerging for future holiday breaks according to Club Med. Bookings have increased for both the Thanksgiving and Christmas periods for both this year and next. Multi-generational families booking for reunion-type vacations over holidays or for birthdays and other celebrations are the biggest increases seen.

While we are all looking forward to “the new normal”, AAA Travel warns that the pandemic is not yet ‘over’ and safety precautions still need to be heeded. So, if you are heading out on one of the top researched road trip destinations- Las Vegas, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Denver and Nashville, don’t forget your masks and hand sanitizer.

Air travel is also predicted to increase, with nearly six times more bookings being made in 2021 than 2020. Orlando, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Anchorage and Colorado Springs are all top destinations being booked through AAA Travel while Club Med is seeing Americans booking domestic vacations at both ski and beach resorts.

Internationally speaking the Caribbean and Mexico are drawing the American clientele with interest in Europe starting to pick up, specifically for France, Greece and Italy and the United Kingdom.

The TSA has extended their mask mandate on all forms of transport as well as in airports until at least September 3, 2021