The Memorial Day holiday weekend is seen by many as the kickoff to the summer travel season. And despite economic concerns, it is shaping up to be a busy one.
The auto club AAA predicts more than 45 million people nationally will travel more than 50 miles from home, which would break a record set last year. And most will do so by vehicle. Mark Schieldrop is a spokesperson with the AAA Northeast said many had trips planned well before the economic downturn.
"Memorial Day is one of those holidays that's pretty insulated from outside forces in terms of travel," Schieldrop said. "Folks are going to travel on that holiday no matter what's going on and people have the time off, the kids are home from school."
Schieldrop said as for the rest of the summer travel season, a better indicator whether people are staying home because of the economy will come around the Fourth of July travel period. He said there are some signs of things to come though, as there have been some drops in business and international travel.
“People really prioritize travel right now, so maybe they are not going to take two or three vacations this summer, but certainly they are going to take one and the chances are it’s going to happen on Memorial Day.”
And Massachusetts motorists who are venturing out will see gas prices lower than last year. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $2.99 this week. That is $0.56 less than this time last year.
Travelers leaving early for the holiday weekend may have to contend with a storm packing heavy rain and high winds on Thursday, which is expected to hit much of New England. The National Weather Service say the rain should wrap up in western Massachusetts Friday morning. It is predicted to be dry throughout the weekend, but temperatures will be only in the low 60’s Saturday before warming a bit to around 70 by Monday.
