Over 38 Million Americans Expected to Travel on Memorial Day Weekend

The great American road trip is back, and local highways and byways are expected to be busy as local residents kick off their summer with a holiday getaway.

AAA projects that more than 38 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend, an increase of nearly two percent compared to last year’s holiday. This year’s forecast is the second highest Memorial Day travel volume on record and the most since 2005. The holiday weekend takes place from May 26 to May 30.

“Americans are eagerly awaiting the start of summer and are ready to travel in numbers not seen in more than a decade,” said Ragina Cooper Averella, public and government affairs manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Fueled by low gas prices, nearly 34 million of holiday travelers are expected to drive to their Memorial Day destinations, according to AAA. Air travel is expected to increase 1.6 percent over last year, with 2.6 million Americans taking to the skies on the holiday weekend.

So where are they headed?

The top destinations for this holiday weekend, based on AAA.com and AAA travel agency sales, are:

1. Orlando
2. Myrtle Beach
3. Washington, D.C.
4. New York
5. Miami
6. San Francisco
7. Boston
8. Honolulu
9. Los Angeles
10. South Padre Island

More than 38M Americans expected to #Travel this Memorial Day Weekend: https://t.co/4zKDf0ySx0 #AAAMDNews pic.twitter.com/WvBr9pjlw6

— AAA Mid-Atl MD News (@AAAMDNews) May 19, 2016

About Sonya Burke

Sonya Burke is the Multimedia Manager at Montgomery Community Media (MCM). You can email story ideas at sburke@mymcmedia.org or reach her on Twitter @SonyaNBurke.

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