With the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] recommending that Americans stay home and avoid nonessential travel, AAA Travel is predicting a record low for Memorial Day weekend travel this year.
In fact, for the first time in 20 years, AAA won’t issue a Memorial Day travel forecast due to COVID-19.
“Last year, 43 million Americans traveled for Memorial Day Weekend – the second-highest travel volume on record since AAA began tracking holiday travel volumes in 2000,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel. “With social distancing guidelines still in practice, this holiday weekend’s travel volume is likely to set a record low.”
Memorial Day 2009 currently holds the record for lowest travel volume at nearly 31 million travelers, according to AAA. That holiday weekend, which came toward the end of the Great Recession, 26.4 million Americans traveled by car, 2.1 million by plane and nearly two million by other forms of transportation [train, bus, etc.].
When it is safe to travel, AAA expects vacationers will gravitate to road trips and family bookings including air, car, hotel and activities to destinations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
