AAA International Travel Forecast, Summer 2008

Monday May 5, 2008

US travel giant AAA reported Friday that 25.1 million Americans are expected to be traveling internationally this summer, an increase over last summer's 24.5 million despite a weak US dollar; the increase is partially attributed to the fact that more Americans now have passports, thanks to new passport rules for Mexico and Canada travel. Spending by Americans in other countries this summer will increase 5.7 percent to $30.7 billion primarily thanks to the weakness of the US dollar, which creates a poor exchange rate, and inflation.

The number of American travelers to China is expected to increase by 13.4 percent (573,000 American travelers) and to India by 13.1 percent (227,000). Visits to France will increase 6.7 percent, and Ireland, Italy and Germany will see small jumps. The largest volume of US international travel will be to Mexico.

The forecast, according to AAA, is based on an economic model that includes currency exchange rates, US economic conditions, airline capacity, historical travel data, disposable income and other data. Backpackers aren't a big part of the market AAA is normally concerned with, but you may be in those numbers somewhere. What do you think? Will you be traveling this summer regardless of the state of the US economy? Does the dollar's decline abroad affect your travel plans? You can comment below.

_{Related: Backpacking Europe 101 | What's Exchange Rate Mean? | How to Get Student Travel Discounts | How to Pay for Travel}