BUFFALO, N.Y. — AAA has released its annual summer travel forecast.
And this year, while there are still millions of people planning to travel, things of course are changing a little bit.
AAA is expecting 700 million trips to be made this summer by Americans. That's down from 15 percent compared to last year, and it's the first decline since 2009.
But while there are currently limited opportunities of where to travel right now because of the new travel restrictions in place, AAA says people are making the most of the opportunities and finding ways to travel within their state.
"One of the trends we're really seeing here across the Western New York and Central New York regions is travelers saying, 'You know what? I'm going to stay right here in New York State,' " said Elizabeth Carey, the director of public relations and corporate communications for AAA of Western New York.
"We see a lot of people booking trips to the Thousand Islands, Finger Lakes, Adirondacks. People saying, 'You know what? I'm going to enjoy what we have right here.' They're going out hiking in state parks in search of waterfalls, different experiences, so it's really the idea of trying to get out there, that self-satisfaction that we all get from travel and that little sense of adventure.
"But some people say, 'You know what? Maybe I won't leave the stat, and maybe I'll stay right here."
AAA says with gas prices lower than years past, it is expecting 97 percent of these trips to be made by car.
