June 26 (Bloomberg) -- The number of travelers over the U.S. Fourth of July holiday will decline for the first time this decade after gasoline rose to a record, AAA said.
AAA said 40.5 million people will travel over the Independence Day weekend July 4-6, a 1.3 percent decrease from a year earlier. Heathrow, Florida-based AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring group, released its forecast today in a statement.
``Gas prices are continuing to take a toll on the traveler's budget,'' AAA Chief Executive Officer Robert Darbelnet said in the statement. ``The travel industry is responding, as they have in the past, with discounts, promotions and other incentives to get people traveling this holiday.''
Fuel costs and the weakest economic growth in five years during the six months ended in March may be may be prompting Americans to save money by driving less. The forecast decline in trips of at least 50 miles from home marks the second straight expected drop on a U.S. holiday weekend, following Memorial Day in May.
U.S. retail gasoline averaged $4.07 a gallon yesterday. It reached a high of $4.08 on June 15, and has risen 34 percent this year, according to AAA. Yesterday's price is 37 percent higher than a year earlier.
The decline for Independence Day travel would be the first since at least 2000, AAA spokesman Troy Green said. AAA in 2000 changed the model it uses to calculate travel, so it can't compare the forecast to figures before then, Green said.
The number of air travelers over July 4th will probably fall 2.3 percent to 4.5 million, while the number of people going by car will be 1.2 percent lower at 34.2 million, AAA said. Some 1.7 million plan to use trains and buses or other modes.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net
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