Americans swat away high fuel prices and gear up for record July 4 travels
Al Jazeera
Record 71 million people are expected to travel on upcoming long weekend, a growth trajectory similar to pre-pandemic.
High fuel costs and the threat of a hurricane are not expected to dampen Americans’ desire to hit the road, with vacationers preparing for record travel to kick off Fourth of July holiday festivities.
Motorist group AAA expects a record of almost 71 million people to travel around the United States Independence Day holiday, growth similar to a pre-pandemic trajectory.
Some 60 million people will drive with nearly 6 million flying to their destinations, while approximately 4.6 million people will take buses, trains or cruises during the holiday period, according to AAA’s forecast.
“We’ve never seen numbers like this,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said, “2024’s travel seems to be what 2020 would have been, had it not been for the pandemic.”
Travel during the summer months in the US will be closely watched from multiple fronts this year, as it could offer central bank officials and policymakers an important measure of consumer sentiment in an election year.
