IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Southern Californians are expected to get out of town – by road, air or sea – in big numbers this Fourth of July weekend.
A little more than three million Southern California residents are expected to take an Independence Day vacation this year, be a 1.3 percent increase compared with last year, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s travel forecast.
If that prediction holds true, 2016 will be the biggest Fourth of July travel weekend since 2002, the largest on record, the Automobile Club reported.
Eighty percent of those holiday travelers – about 2.41 million – are expected to reach their destination by automobile, while 375,000 will travel by air, year-over-year increases of one percent and three percent respectively.
Statewide, more than 4.9 million people are expected to travel this weekend while across the country about 42.9 million are expected to take a vacation. In both cases those numbers would be a 1.3 percent increase.
Lower gas prices and air fares, along with a growth in consumer confidence, are responsible for the increase in travel this year, according to the Automobile Club.
