PHOENIX — The unofficial start of summer is here and this year, experts are expecting the highest number of travelers in 20 years. Friday, TSA reported five days in May have broken into the top 20 busiest days in TSA history and Thursday was the second busiest day ever.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Según expertos, se espera una jornada récord de viajes durante el fin de semana de Memorial Day
Travel experts expect a busy holiday weekend with 44 million people hitting the road or taking to the skies nationwide. In Arizona, travelers make up one million of those.
It's the highest number of vacationers AAA has projected since 2000. AAA representatives said travel trends over the last 10 years are continuing and Americans are prioritizing vacations.
Some of the most popular road trip destinations for Arizona are California and the High Country. And 2024 travel trends show more Americans going international to Europe. The record demand for cruises in 2023 also continues this year.
AAA's Julian Paredes said the cost of airfare and rising inflation aren't even stopping vacationers.
“Travel had been going on an upward trend throughout 2010s and peaked in 2019," Paredes said. "2019 was an extremely busy year. COVID threw everything for a loop. We’re pretty much picking where we left off.”
Thursday and Friday are the busiest travel times ahead of the long weekend. AAA recommended hitting the road in the morning if possible because they will be busiest between about noon and 5 p.m. AAA further recommended getting out of the Metro-Phoenix area before rush hour. The combination of travelers and daily commuters is expected to cause some headaches. AAA added that overall travel is up five percent over last year.
Most people will be driving. AAA said more than 800,000 of them, nearly one million people will be hitting the road this weekend to get to their destinations in the Grand Canyon state.
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