Year Of The Road Trip: Top 5 Memorial Day Destinations For New Yorkers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Grab your sunglasses, a giant cup of coffee and prepare to hit the highway: 2016 is shaping up to be the summer of the road trip.
Cheap fuel prices have left many American families flush with spare cash to spend on a vacation. With summertime gas prices predicted to be the lowest in 11 years, the travel industry is anticipating a blockbuster July and August.
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AAA, the large travel agency and car lobbying group, is predicting 38 million people will travel for the Memorial weekend holiday, the most since 2005. That's 700,000, or 1.9 percent, more travelers than last year.
Many New Yorkers are planning to travel along the eastern seaboard for the holiday. According to the AAA, the top travel destinations for New Yorkers this year are Marietta, Georgia, Williamsburg, Virginia, Orlando, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina and Rome, New York.
The overwhelming majority of Memorial Day travelers -- 89 percent -- plan to go by car. That's the highest percent of drivers since AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000. The AAA reports a 1.6 increase in air travel too, with 1.6 million people planning to fly over the holiday weekend.
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