ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170046
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Premium prices at the pumps? Perhaps.
But a 2,681-mile trip across country from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., will cost only about $12 more in gas this year than it did in 1995.
``Pocketbooks may be squeezed, but they're not snapped shut,'' said Graeme Clarke of the American Automobile Association.
In fact, 30.4 million Americans are expected to travel at least 100 miles this summer, an increase of 1 percent over last year's record 30 million vacationers, Clarke said. The vacationers will take a record 232 million trips, an increase of 2 percent over last summer, said William S. Norman, president of the Travel Industry Association of America.
A family of two adults and two children can expect to pay an average of $193 per day for food and lodging - the same amount as last year. It is the second consecutive year the price of lodging and meals held steady, AAA said.
While more people plan trips, spending is expected to match last year's average of $1,076 per trip because people are looking for entertainment and travel bargains, Norman said.
``Last summer, we talked upscale and lavish,'' he said. ``This summer, we are talking family and moderate economizing.''
A telephone survey of 1,500 adults found 27 percent expect to travel more this summer, while 11 percent plan to travel less. Forty-three percent expect to travel the same amount and 16 percent plan to stay home.
Also, 80 percent, or 187 million vacations, will be road trips, an increase of 1 percent over last year. Seventeen percent, or close to 39 million trips, will be taken by air, a 5 percent increase that reflects the growth of budget airlines.
Using the $1.307 per gallon that regular unleaded gas cost at a self-serve pump in an AAA survey earlier this month, and comparing it with the $1.196 per gallon that it cost last year, a trip from Philadelphia to New York will cost an additional 45 cents in a car that averages 25 mpg. A trip from Seattle to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming will cost $3.41 more.
The travel groups predict that more than half of pleasure travelers, 54 percent, will have children in tow. Last year, 47 percent of travelers took children. Vacationers plan to spend 8.5 nights away from home on their longest vacation, up from 7.9 nights last year.
The No.1 travel destination is Florida, followed by California, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Arizona, New York and Washington state.
The least expensive vacation in the United States will be in North Dakota, where food and lodging will cost a family an average of $142 per day. The most expensive trip will be in Hawaii, at $383 per day.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:AP chartby CNB