Travel News
2012 July 4th Travel News You Can Use
It’s a national holiday, but we have more than just Independence Day to celebrate. It’s a banner year for 4th of July travel. Find out all the important trends as well as the travel information you can use today in Charles Edward Hicks’ report.
More than 42 million Americans this year are expected to travel 50 or more miles from home, according to AAA, to celebrate the Fourth of July. This is the largest travel projection for the week of July 4 since 2007 and represents a significant increase from the 40 million who traveled that far last year. Many experts are attributing the increase to an improving economy and lower gas prices. This week’s average regular gas price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, is $3.291. A year ago, the price was $3.534.
Many hotels in the South are benefiting from this increase. Hotels south of the Mason-Dixon Line are experiencing booms in occupancy from last year for the week of July 4, according to KCSA Strategic Communications. Occupancy in Miami is up 9.9 percent, Dallas is up 14.6 percent, San Antonio is up 28.4 percent and Charlotte is up 45 percent.
However, in the past two weeks, several Southern cities have experienced their highest temperatures on record. The temperature rose to 109 degrees in Columbia, South Carolina, and 106 degrees in Atlanta on Sunday, and 105 degrees in Little Rock, last week. Charlotte, Houston and Austin are also among several cities experiencing their highest temperatures on record. The heat hasn’t been limited to the South either.
The National Weather Service posted excessive heat warnings in a dozen states last week with watches and advisories posted in six more.
Needless to say, it’s hot out there, and travelers need to mind their health. First, wear sunscreen, and put it on regularly. WebMD provides a helpful way to determine how often you should reapply sunscreen. If you are using a sunscreen with an SPF of 15, and it usually takes you 15 minutes to get a sunburn, multiply the two numbers together to figure out about how long your sunscreen should last. In this case, it would be 225 minutes, or 3 hours and 45 minutes.
