The number of Americans traveling this Labor Day holiday weekend is expected to increase 9.9 percent from last year, according to AAA.
The travel agency predicts about 34.4 million travelers will take a trip at least 50 miles away from home. Last year, 31.3 million Americans traveled over the three-day weekend.
The expected 1.2 million Pennsylvanians who will be traveling this weekend includes the more than 100,000 fans expected to converge on Penn State's Beaver Stadium Saturday for the Nittany Lions' season opener against Youngstown State.
The increase in travel for Labor Day appears to be the result of economic improvement over the past year, according to AAA. The U.S. travel industry began to gain traction in the fourth quarter of 2009, and that momentum continued through the vacation season.
"Travel over the Fourth of July was up 18 percent. We've seen double digit increases over the holiday weekends this year. We are seeing folks doing their thing and not being as conservative as last year," said Ruth Nagy, AAA East Central director of travel operations.
Trips by automobile are expected to increase in popularity with 91 percent of travelers reaching their destination by driving. This is an increase of 10.3 percent from last Labor Day.
The price of gasoline is favorable, with the current price of self-service regular gasoline at $2.599 a gallon in the Altoona area, almost identical to the $2.609 price at this time last year. Two years ago, the price of gasoline was about one dollar more per gallon.
Although more people will be traveling, Labor Day weekend is not a great weekend for travel agencies.
"We have been busy this week, but people are not planning trips for the Labor Day weekend," said Donna Wilt, owner of Classic Travel, Duncansville. "People are booking trips, but they are for fall trips and upcoming holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas."
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.
