WASHINGTON --Travel association AAA estimates that 40.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this Independence Day holiday weekend, a 1.2% increase from the 40.2 million who traveled last year. Of those travelers, about 85% will travel by car.
This weekend, approximately 34.3 million travelers expect to go by motor vehicle, a 1.3% increase from the 33.8 million who drove a year ago. Another 4.6 million plan to travel by airplane, the same number flying last year.
The greatest number of Fourth of July auto travelers [image-nocss] will originate in the Southeast with 8.8 million, followed by the West with 8.5 million; Midwest, 6.6 million; Northeast, 5.7 million; and Great Lakes, 4.7 million. The West is expected to produce the largest number of air travelers with 1.7 million, followed by the Midwest and Southeast at 800,000 each; Northeast, 700,000; and Great Lakes, 600,000.
Ocean and beach vacations top the list of preferred destinations this holiday with 22% of travelers saying they will be taking a water-based vacation. Small towns and rural areas was the next popular destination, with 21% and cities were third at 19%; 10% of travelers will head to the lake areas and 5% to the mountains.
More than one quarter of the total Fourth of July travelers expect to stay at a hotel or motel' 40% of travelers expect to stay with friends or relatives.
AAA's Leisure Travel Index shows other vacation costs up somewhat from Fourth of July 2005. Hotel rates are up slightly, averaging 10% higher for AAA-Rated Three Diamond hotels for the 20 top destinations used in the comparison. Two Diamond properties will show a 6% increase in prices. Airfares are up 7% and car rental rates are up 5%.
Meanwhile, according to the National Retail Federation's (NRF) 2006 Independence Day Consumer Intentions & Actions Survey, the majority of consumers (87.2%) plan to celebrate Independence Day this year.
More than one-half of consumers polled (53.2%) said that increased gasoline prices will not impact their holiday spending.
This year, an increased number of people will be barbecuing or cooking out (60 % vs. 48.8% in 2005) for the holiday. In addition, 91.1 million people will celebrate with fireworks or a community celebration, up from 77.7 million in 2005. And NRF's statistics show that 22.9 million people plan to travel or take a vacation this Independence Day, up from 18.6 million in 2005.
High prices at the pumps aren't slowing down consumers this Independence Day, said Phil Rist, vice president of strategy at BIGresearch, which conducted the research for NRF. Rather than take a long trip over the holiday weekend, many people are opting to stay close to home, celebrating with neighborhood picnics, barbeques and fireworks.
In anticipation of the impending holiday, many retailers will be stocking their shelves with plenty of red, white and blue merchandise, NRF said. According to the survey, 25 million consumers plan to purchase patriotic goods this month and more than a quarter (28.4%) of those polled plan to take advantage of special sales and promotions during the extended holiday weekend as well. Popular shopping destinations include discount stores (39.8%), department stores (34.5%), online (14.6%) specialty stores, such as greeting card/gift stores and electronics stores (12.6%) and specialty clothing stores (10.2%).
Additional findings: 111.8 million consumers own an American flag; 86.9 million consumers own patriotic apparel, such as a t-shirt or hat; and 20.9 million people will attend a parade.
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