COLUMBUS, Ohio – Confident consumers, cheap gasoline and a longer holiday period will combine to make this the busiest Christmas/New Year travel period on record, according to the AAA.
The auto club predicts 98.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home from Tuesday, Dec. 23 to Sunday, Jan. 4. That is an increase of 4 percent and marks the highest travel volume ever for the year-end holiday period.
AAA Ohio says 3.8 million Ohioans will travel for the holidays, 5 percent more than last year.
Marshall Doney, the auto club’s president and chief operating officer, cites three main reasons for the increase: Greater consumer confidence due to economic improvements, higher disposable income due to lower gas prices, and a longer holiday travel period.
Christmas and New Year’s Day both fall on Thursday which has lengthened the travel season to 13 days, one day longer than last year and the longest since 2008, Doney said.
The vast majority of travelers, more than 90 percent nationally and in Ohio, will take advantage of low gas prices and drive to their destinations. November gas prices averaged $2.89 nationally and $2.86 in Ohio and AAA expects them to remain at their lowest levels since 2009 for the rest of the year. Doney says the lower prices at the pump have helped increase Americans’ disposable income 3.5 percent from last year.
Air travel is forecast to increase 1 percent nationally and 4.7 percent in Ohio this holiday with the highest number of Ohioans flying since 2004.