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State News

AAA Auto Club Skips Memorial Day Travel Forecast Due To Coronavirus

WFSU | By Gina Jordan

Published May 14, 2020 at 11:42 AM EDT

AAA says there won't be a travel forecast for Memorial Day, which kicks off the unofficial start of the summer travel season.

For the first time in 20 years, the AAA Auto Club isn’t issuing a Memorial Day weekend travel forecast.

Blame the coronavirus.

“The data that we typically collect to formulate these forecasts have been significantly undermined by COVID-19. So the reliability of those forecasts is not something we’re comfortable working in,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins says. “As businesses and states begin to reopen, then we’ll be able to have a more accurate look at just how many people are going to be travelling in the coming months.”

AAA expects the annual forecast to return next year.

“Last year, 43 million Americans traveled for Memorial Day Weekend – the second-highest travel volume on record since AAA began tracking holiday travel volumes in 2000,” says Paula Twidale, AAA Travel senior vice president. “With social distancing guidelines still in practice, this holiday weekend’s travel volume is likely to set a record low.”

For now, the auto club says travelers’ confidence seems to be improving, as online bookings are slowly increasing for domestic travel.