Independence Day travel for Floridians will be humming this Summer holiday period.
AAA Auto Club of Florida is projecting 4.62 million Floridians will travel this Fourth of July stretch, which will include an extra day for the holiday weekend since the patriotic hallmark falls on a Saturday.
Many businesses and offices will be giving their workers off on Friday, July 3. AAA officials note that the full elevated travel period runs from June 27 through July 5.
“For many families, traveling for Independence Day isn’t just a trip, it’s a tradition,” said Debbie Haas, Vice President of Travel for AAA.
“Vacations are one category where consumers are still willing to spend, even if that means cutting back on something else. With an extended holiday travel period, we expect busy roads, steady demand for flights, and continued interest in cruises across many parts of the country.”
AAA expects the majority of Florida travelers to hit the road. Even though gas prices are high due to the war with Iran, AAA officials said Florida will likely break the record of Fourth of July travel with 4.08 million travelers using autos. Another 329,326 Sunshine State travelers will use airlines, and an estimated 214,265 people will use other forms of transportation.
Added up, that would break the previous Fourth of July travel record in Florida set last year, with 4.57 million residents going to some destination during the 2025 holiday stretch.
AAA is forecasting that 72.2 million Americans will travel to some location away from home during the Independence Day period.
About 61.4 million of those will be moving on roadways, another 5.84 million will take to the skies and another 4.9 million Americans will travel by other modes of transportation to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
If all those figures hold true, that would exceed the national record of Fourth of July holiday travel set last year when 71.8 million people were on the move.
Of those national travelers, many are heading to Florida. AAA figures using travel bookings through the agency show Orlando is the second-most popular destination in the U.S., with Miami fourth and Fort Lauderdale seventh. Seattle was ranked first.
Drew Dixon is a journalist of 40 years who has reported in print and broadcast throughout Florida, starting in Ohio in the 1980s. He is also an adjunct professor of philosophy and ethics at three colleges, Jacksonville University, University of North Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville. You can reach him at [email protected].
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