The official start of the summer travel season is less than a week away, and there are concerns that high gas prices could discourage many people from traveling. However, Pam Moen with AAA-Wisconsin says the auto club’s annual survey is still predicting a slight increase in travel this year for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Moen says about 35 million people across the nation are expected to travel next weekend, and only about 40-percent of those responding said high gas prices will have an impact on their plans this summer. In Wisconsin, about 700,000 people are expected to travel during the holiday, about the same number as last year.
Moen says high gas prices are still a big factor in travel decisions. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Wisconsin is still about a dollar higher than it was at this time last year, despite dropping quite a bit from a record peak earlier this month.
Moen says most people will likely scale back how far they plan to travel or decrease the types of destinations they will visit, rather than giving up on vacation plans completely.