COLUMBUS, Ohio – An economy that’s moving slower than a traffic jam is one reason travelers are expected to stay close to home this Memorial Day weekend.
The AAA predicts 1.31 million Ohioans will travel at least 50 miles from home, 1.2 million of them by car, a 1.4 percent decline from last year, but not one that has observers troubled, according to the auto club’s holiday weekend travel forecast.
“The numbers are still in line with the 12-year historical travel averages, which is definitely good news,” Kim Schwind, Public Relations Manager for the AAA Ohio Auto Club, said
Travel is expected to be down nationwide 0.9 percent, due to a slow economy, flattening demand and belt-tightening.
“We’ve had this sluggish economic recovery so things really aren’t getting better any time soon. And, we’re also four years removed from the depths of the recession, so a lot of the pent-up travel demand has already been met,” Schwind said.
The expected decrease can also be attributed to the impact of mandated federal budget cuts, called sequestration, which is expected to be strongest during the second quarter of this year, Schwind said.
Automobile travel remains the preferred choice of transportation, despite gas prices which are about 20 cents higher than one year ago, with 91 percent of Ohioans driving to their destinations.
Schwind says 62 percent of travelers told an auto club survey they would not alter their travel plans due to high gas prices, compared with 53 percent who said they would last year.
“It seems like people are working around these high gas prices by cutting in other ways,” such as shortening trips or staying with family or friends, Schwind said.
Gas prices spiked in Ohio and several other Midwestern states last week as refinery maintenance created a supply crunch that is expected to ease up soon.