Nearly 4.8 Million Floridians Planning Holiday Travel

Nearly 4.8 million Floridians, 1.2 percent more than a year ago, will do some traveling for the year-end holidays. But fewer will be flying.

The vast majority will be on the road, either driving (4.35 million) or riding a bus (183,859), according to AAA, the auto club group.

Meanwhile, air travel, which will be the primary method of travel for 261,487, is down 11 percent from a year ago.

Part of the decrease in air travel is that Americans are traveling fewer miles for the holiday, with the average trip being 726 miles, down from 1,052 a year ago.

Those traveling are expected to spend $718, up from $694, with nearly one-third of the dollars going to fuel and transportation costs.

Nationally, there is forecast a 1.4 percent increase in holiday travel despite concerns over the slow growth of the economy, AAA reported.

AAA is happy to learn so many Americans plan to travel this holiday season, contributing to the second-highest year-end holiday travel volume in the past decade, stated Brent Hubele, vice president ofAAA Travel, in a release.

The forecast for 91.1 million American travelers puts the highest numbers of Americans on the road since the 2006-2007 holiday season, when 93.6 million traveled.