STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The busiest summer travel season since before the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is about to kick off with millions of Americans expected to travel for Memorial Day Weekend at the end of the month.
On Tuesday, The Vacationer released its annual 2023 Memorial Day Travel Survey, finding that nearly 64% of American adults plan to travel for Memorial Day Weekend. That percentage represents roughly 165 million travelers, according to the most recent census data.
The reasons why people intend to travel vary, with roughly 21% attending a friend or relative’s party, 18% planning a vacation, 17% taking day trips to beach or lake and 7% traveling for different reasons. The remaining 36% of Americans don’t plan on traveling at all.
“The oldest generation of American adults over age 60 are the least likely to travel for Memorial Day this year. 43.93% of people over the age of 60 said they will not travel for Memorial Day. On the other hand, the youngest generation of American adults aged 18-29 is the most likely to travel for Memorial Day. Only 32.37% of people aged 18-29 said they won’t travel,” said Eric Jones of The Vacationer.
High levels of inflation are affecting millions of Americans’ Memorial Day Weekend plans, with 67% of respondents, representing roughly 169 million residents, saying that rising costs will impact them.
Roughly 31% said their plans will be affected by the rising cost of everyday items, while 22% referenced high gas prices and an additional 13% cited elevated airfares.
Residents in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, were the most likely to be affected by inflation, with more than 71% of respondents from those states saying they’ll be impacted.
Like previous years, survey data showed the most common activities travelers plan to engage in this Memorial Day Weekend are barbecues (60%), beach trips (27%), fireworks (25%) and lake trips (20%).
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