LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- About 7.2 million Southern California residents are projected to travel during the end-of- year holidays, a three percent increase from the same period of last year, the Automobile Club of Southern California said on Friday.
According to the auto club, the vast majority of travelers are expected to drive to their destinations. Ninety-one percent of them, or 6.6 million people, will travel by car during the period.
Fewer than 300,000 are projected to fly, still a 2.9 percent increase from 2009. Less than 350,000 plan to travel by cruise, bus, train or other type of transportation. This represents a 1.8 percent increase, the auto club said.
"The number of air travelers and cruise passengers is still lower than in prior years, but we've been moving in the right direction throughout 2010," said Filomena Andre, the auto club's vice president for travel products and services. "Our members are traveling more, spending more and often going greater distances on their trips."
Statewide, 11.6 million travelers are expected to make getaways this holiday, with 10.6 million auto travelers, 478,000 plane passengers, and 560,000 travelers going by other means.
The travelers nationwide who plan to take a trip are projected to go up by roughly 3 percent, with 92 million Americans expected to spend their holidays out-of-town. A majority of them, or 85.7 million, will drive to their destinations, the auto club said.
Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Anaheim (Disneyland), San Diego and San Francisco are the top five end-of-year holiday destinations, according to a survey of local AAA travel agents.
