Memorial Day travel boost expected

More people in the U.S. are expected to travel for the Memorial Day weekend than at any other time since the recession, the travel organization AAA said Friday.

{mosads}The group projected that just over 36 million people will head more 50 miles from home when the holiday hits later this month, a 1.5 percent increase over 2013.

AAA chalked the increase in part up to the continued, though at times sluggish, economic recovery, as well as people’s desire to put the harsh winter weather behind them.

“As the economy continues to improve at a slow and steady pace consumer spending, disposable income, consumer confidence and the employment outlook are trending up which is welcomed news for the travel industry,” Marshall Doney, AAA’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.

The travel group also said that the 36.1 million travelers is also the second most since 2000. Roughly eight in 10 of the vacationers will travel by car, where they could even see slightly lower gas prices than they did last Memorial Day.