Travel Has Surged 60% in America

As America eases the restrictions more than 37 million people are anticipated to travel for the Memorial Day holiday weekend which is a big boost from last year’s record low. Many people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home, which is a 60% increase from last year. According to the AAA, only 23 million travelled on Memorial Day travel forecast published Tuesday. The 23 million figure from 2020 is the lowest recorded since AAA began tracking in 2000.

Paula Twidale, the senior vice president for AAA Travel, said in a statement that as more people get the COVID-19 vaccine and consumer confidence grows, people in America are showing a strong desire to travel this Memorial Day. Dr Leana Wen, Medical Analyst said that there are a lot of people who’ve been putting off travelling until they are fully vaccinated. There is an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

The anticipated increase in holiday weekend travellers still represents 13% or nearly six million fewer travellers than in 2019. This decrease and a continued tendency to choose road trips over air travel could indicate that while some people are excited about reopening and are confident in Covid-19 vaccines, they are still aware of the remaining pandemic risks.

Dr Leana Wen said that many families have mixed vaccination status, like mine, where the parents are vaccinated but the children are not. For various reasons, there are also some families where the adults are not vaccinated yet. In many parts of the country, this is still a dangerous time for people who are not yet vaccinated.AAA’s Twidale Said that people must remember to continue taking important safety precautions.