AAA Predicts Second-Highest Holiday Travel Volume in Years for Oregon, Coastline

Published 06/30/21 at 2:26 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Manzanita, Oregon) – AAA experts predict some 597,000 Oregonians will be traveling over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and that travel volume is back up to pre-pandemic levels throughout the country. The Oregon coast is one of the big destinations but not the top one, the organization said.

Nationally, more than 47.7 million Americans (14.4% of the population) will be making the trip, creating the second-highest Independence Day travel volume on record, trailing only 2019.

The Independence Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, July 1 to Monday, July 5.

AAA Travel is seeing an explosion in online traffic and bookings on its site, especially for hotels and car rentals for the summer travel season. Domestic travel and road trips remain the most popular.

Central Oregon and the national parks in Utah and Yellowstone are the most popular destinations for road trips this 4th of July. For those flying, Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Disneyland are the top destinations.

The other top road trips according to AAA's website bookings are Seattle and Montana. Still favorites but down the line in popularity are regional destinations such as the Oregon coast, Crater Lake, and northern California.

AAA said the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions, increased vaccinations, and lower unemployment are giving more Americans the confidence to travel for some fun and fireworks this year.

“People are eager to travel this summer after staying close to home for the last year-and-a-half. With pandemic restrictions easing and more people getting vaccinated, we saw a strong kick-off to the summer travel season over Memorial Day and that trend continues for Independence Day,” said Doreen Loofburrow, Senior Vice President of Travel at AAA Oregon/Idaho. “Although many aspects of daily life are returning to normal, the travel landscape has changed and AAA urges all travelers to do their part to help make travel as safe as possible.”

Throughout the nation, AAA said compared to 2019 numbers only 2.5% fewer Americans will be traveling over Independence Day. This represents an increase of nearly 40% compared to last year, when total travel fell to 34.2 million during the coronavirus pandemic.

On the down side for those traveling to the Washington coast or Oregon coast, gas prices are the most expensive in seven years, AAA said.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Below: various Oregon coast towns on the Fourth

More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net
All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted