AAA Texas: 9M Texans expected to travel for end-of-year holidays

Kelsey Thompson
·2 min read
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new report from AAA Texas released Monday estimates nine million Texans will travel this end-of-year holiday season, a slight uptick from last year’s travel levels.

While travel volumes are still down 6% from 2019 — the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic — AAA Texas is anticipating a 2% increase from last year’s numbers. Nationwide, 115.2 million people are expected to travel during the year-end holiday period, a 10-day stretch running from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1. Dec. 23 and Dec. 28 are expected to be the most congested days on the road, officials added.

Texas holiday travel numbers are broken down into the following brackets:

  • Travel by car: 8.3 million people

  • Travel by air: 410,000 people

  • Other forms of travel: 255,000 people

Vehicular holiday travel is up 2% from 2022, while air travel is up 8% and other forms of travel climbed 12%. Compared to 2019 levels, vehicular travel is down 6%, air travel is down 2% and other forms of travel have slightly risen by 0.5%.

RELATED: Holiday crowds at airports and on highways are expected to be even bigger than last year

Nationally, travel volumes are broken down to 103.6 million people traveling by car, 7.51 million traveling by air and 4.05 million accessing other forms of transportation. Nationwide, vehicular travel is up 1.8% from last year, while air travel increased 4.7% and other forms jumped 10.8%.

Compared to 2019, national estimates show vehicular holiday travel is expected to be down by 4.1%, while air travel and other forms increased by 2.4% and 4.1%, respectively.

“An impressive nine million Texans are gearing up to hit the roads, soar through the skies and set sail from cruise ports, all in the spirit of reuniting with loved ones this holiday season,” said Galen Grillo, Vice President and General Manager for AAA Texas, in the report. “Consumer demand for leisure travel has surged this year, and it appears that the momentum is set to carry on into 2024.”

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