NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As you travel to shop or celebrate this season, Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas is clear, you won't be alone.
"We're talking about near record levels in terms of overall travel during this holiday season," Steward said. "AAA is projecting 115.2 million travelers nationwide are going to head 50 miles or more from home during this ten day holiday season."
This year’s total number of travelers is a 2.2% increase over last year and the second highest year-end travel forecast since 2000 when AAA began tracking holiday travel. 2019 remains the busiest Christmas and New Year’s travel period on record, with 119 million travelers.
"Definitely almost back to that pre-pandemic level," Steward said. "We are projecting a record in terms of air travel this holiday season."
7.7 million Americans and over 50,000 Kansans will fly as part of their holiday travel. Around 1.1 million Kansans will be driving for Christmas or New Year's.
"About 92% of Kansans will be traveling by car," Steward said. "We're projecting some of the busiest days of travel being Saturday, Dec. 23, Thursday, Dec. 28 and Saturday, Dec. 30."
For the purposes of their forecast, the year-end holiday travel period is defined as the 10-day period from Saturday, December 23, 2023 to Monday, January 1, 2024.
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