Summer is just around the corner and the American Automobile Association (AAA) has done just that revealed very interesting information about Memorial Day Weekend, summer travel and travel trends for Americans this season.
For starters, more than 43.8 million Americans will make the most of this Memorial Day weekend, traveling by air (3.51 million travelers), private vehicles (38.4 million), buses, trains and cruises (1.9 million).
This is a 4% jump from 2023 figures and almost as high as 2005, when the country had 44 million travelers, said Paula Twidale, Senior Vice President of AAA Travel.
“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like this in almost two decades,” Twidale said.
These numbers mean we will have a million more travelers this holiday weekend than before the pandemic “signals that a very busy summer season is just around the corner.”
Methodology
AAA and S&P Global Market Intelligence (SPGMI) used data points such as net income, jobs, asset prices, interest rates, real indicators and travel and tourism variables from 2000 to 2024 to obtain data trends and figures related to travel, travelers and tourism.
This report was fully completed on April 15, 2024.
Travel trends
Another interesting finding is the travel trends. Let’s see what AAA found.
- World-class holidays: AAA discovered a wave of people going on luxury cruises and tours.
- Extreme nature: Americans like to visit exotic places such as Antarctica, the South Pacific and Africa.
- Solo travel: Women are traveling alone en masse for the first time.
- Milestones: Families and groups of friends travel to celebrate special occasions.
- Asia Travel: Tourists are finally booking that dream trip to Japan and Southeast Asian countries.
- Trains: Tourists are increasingly interested in taking trains across Canada and Europe.
- Bucket lists: Americans are finally booking their dream trips.
Top destinations
When choosing domestic hotspots, Americans seem to have beaches, theme parks and similar entertainment options at the top of their minds. This might explain why they included three Florida cities in this exclusive list.
But when they decide to travel internationally, they are still tempted by traditional world-class destinations such as Rome, Paris or Barcelona.
Let’s see where the Americans go this Memorial Day weekend and the rest of the season.
10 best domestic destinations
- Orlando, FL
- Seattle, Washington
- New York, New York
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Anaheim/Los Angeles, California
- Denver, Colo
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Miami, FL
- Boston, MA
10 top international destinations
- Rome, Italy
- Vancouver, BC, Canada
- London, England
- Paris, France
- Dublin, Ireland
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Athens, Greece
- Barcelona, Spain
- St George, Bermuda
- Edinburgh, Scotland
