Last year, the weak economy sent travel down more than 20% during the Independence Day weekend, to 29.8 million travelers from 37.8 million in 2008. AAA described this decline as "much larger" than originally anticipated. For 2010, the travel group expects travel volume to pull itself out of last year's trough.
0:00/1:35Time to take a trip to Europe?"We now know that overall travel began to recover in the fourth quarter of 2009," said AAA.
Driving will be the largest component of this, with 31.4 million Americans expected to travel by automobile, a 17.7% increase over last year, said AAA. Gas prices, averaging about $2.75 per gallon nationwide on Friday, are similar to last year but cheaper than the $4 average of 2008, the group added.
AAA added one caveat: the impact on travel volume from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is difficult to gauge.
"As oil continues to spill into the Gulf and the associated economic and environmental costs rise, those who have planned trips to beaches in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and West Florida are anxious about arriving at a clean beach," said AAA. "It is difficult to estimate the number of cancellations that will occur or the decrease in travel due to the oil spill during the Fourth of July weekend.
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