Holiday travelers appear ready to shake off both the long winter and the recession.
AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson Jim Lardear says Delawareans are ready to hit the roadways over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
"We had a pretty rough winter, so our survey reveals that Delawareans are ready to get some travel, sun and fun and get away this Memorial Day weekend," said Lardear.
AAA’s first first travel forecast of the summer released Tuesday projects that 100,000 Delawareans will travel over the Memorial Day weekend. That number represents a 1.9 percent increase over last year and a new post-recession high.
Lardear says its an indication that holiday travel overall is beginning to bounce back.
"The real key here is that for the last couple of years the economy has been pretty tight, people have not really felt like they’ve had the disposable income. But what we’re seeing this year is that about 2 percent more are feeling like they’re ready to travel, and they’re gonna go ahead and make that decision to get away for this Memorial Day," said Lardear.
89 percent of travelers over the weekend are expected to be in automobiles. About 7,000 Delawareans will travel by airplane.
Nationally, AAA projects 36.1 million people will take a trip this holiday weekend, also a post-recession high and the second highest Memorial Day travel volume since 2000. 88 percent of those traveling nationally, or 31.8 million will be in their cars.
AAA advises motorists in Delaware and elsewhere to give themselves extra time to get to their holiday destinations and to travel during off peak hours.
