More Tennesseans planning Labor Day trips

Sept. 1– Labor Day travel in Tennessee is projected to increase 9.7 percent this year from 2009, with more than 658,000 Tennessee residents taking a trip of 50 miles or more away from home between Thursday, Sept. 2 and Monday, Sept. 6.

Overall, travel in the East South Central region of the U.S. is projected to increase 8.5 percent from last year with more than 1.7 million travelers.

Much like other summer holidays, Labor Day is mostly comprised of auto travelers.

This year, more than 629,000 Tennesseans are expected to travel by automobile, an increase of 9.9 percent from last year.

Barring any major tropical storm activity in the Gulf Coast region, AAA expects the average price of regular retail gasoline in Tennessee to be between $2.50 and $2.60 per gallon this holiday weekend.

Air travel and travel by other modes are also expected to increase by 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent in the state, respectively.

"Labor Day typically marks the end of summer travel and we’re seeing more people deciding to take one last summer trip before the fall," said Brent Hubele, vice president of AAA Travel. "This is great news as travel projections are up overall, not only in the state and region, but in the country as a whole."

Total U.S. travel is projected to increase almost 10 percent with more than 34.4 million Americans taking a trip of 50 miles or more this Labor Day weekend.

Although the East South Central region is expected see an increase in travel, the year-over-year growth is less than the national holiday growth forecast of 9.9 percent because the region is still fighting back losses in the manufacturing sector which accounts for 12 percent of total employment in the region.

"The East South Central region has only begun to recover, but the positive momentum building in 2010 will help the region toward a fuller recovery in the future," said Hubele. "The good news is this region is moving in a positive direction from last year with a healthy increase in Labor Day travel."

Tennessee contributes the largest amount of tourism output (42%) in the East South Central region, according to AAA.