With gas prices inching upward in some
areas of the country just as the summer travel season is about to
start, some travelers may already be thinking of changing their
vacation plans, according to a recent Travelhorizons survey,
conducted jointly by the Travel Industry Association and Yesawich,
Pepperdine, Brown & Russell.
With about a week
to go before the Memorial Day Weekend, the official start of the 
summer travel season, gas
prices, which were average at $3.11 just a few days ago, are
beginning to rise.
The national
average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.22,
according to AAA; in Michigan, the price of regular unleaded
gasoline had hit $3.50 per gallon.
That's the price
at which 1,546 leisure travelers responding to a survey conducted
in March by the TIA and YPB&R indicated that they would change
there travel plans.
At $3.50, 35% of
travelers said they would "take fewer trips this summer," while 26%
said they would drive a shorter distance or postpone trips until
gas prices fell. However, 35% said they would outright cancel their
trips.
At $3.75 a
gallon, most (61%) leisure travelers said they would change their
vacation plans, although 16% said they would go forward with their
plans regardless of gas prices.
AAA estimates
that 38.3 million Americans will travel over the Memorial Day
Weekend, up 1.7% from the same time last year. Of that, 32.1
million will travel by car, an increase of 1.8%.
The TIA and AAA
estimate that travelers this summer will take 330 million
person-trips, measured as 50 miles or more one way from home, up
1.4% from last summer.
Overall, Roger
Dow, TIA's president and CEO, said "The good news is that we expect
more travel this summer. But if prices rise above $3.50 per gallon,
it appears that many Americans may change their travel
plans."
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail
to Michael Milligan at [email protected].