Memorial Day travel expected to break 20-year record

More than 45 million Americans are expected to travel domestically for Memorial Day, a new record for the holiday weekend, according to forecasters from AAA.

The auto club expects 45.1 million people will travel 50 miles or more between May 22 and May 26 around the Memorial Day holiday, up 1.4 million travelers from the same period last year.

The previous record was 44 million people, set in 2005.

More than 87 percent of projected Memorial Day travelers are expected to hit the road for their vacations as gas prices have slowly begun to decline, while 8 percent are expected to fly and 5 percent will use other transportation such as buses, trains or cruise ships, according to AAA.

All areas of travel will see increases compared to last year, the auto club's projections show.

“Memorial Day weekend getaways don’t have to be extravagant and costly,” Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a news release. “While some travelers embark on dream vacations and fly hundreds of miles across the country, many families just pack up the car and drive to the beach or take a road trip to visit friends."

Travel has seen a steady resurgence in the U.S. following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but some destinations have reported recent declines in tourism, particularly among foreign travelers. Americans have also faced some ongoing concerns about air travel safety.

AAA's review of Memorial Day travel bookings found that Orlando, Fla., is the top domestic destination for American travelers, while Rome, Italy, is the top international target as many Catholics celebrate the recent election of the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV.