With the steady growth of COVID vaccinations throughout the state, the recent dose of warmer temperatures and Memorial Day weekend underway, nearly 60% more Ohioans will travel this month than they did this time last year, according to AAA Ohio predictions.
Ninety-five percent of those Memorial weekenders will be driving, said Kimberly Schwind, the senior manager of public affairs for the auto club, marking a 5% increase in vacationers opting for road travel from the usual 90% seen on Memorial Days prior.
The jump, she said, also reflects Ohioans’ strong desire to explore after 15 months of pandemic restrictions.
“People have been cooped up,” Schwind said. “They haven’t gotten to travel — a lot of people had to cancel their trips, so we’re seeing people rescheduling those trips, we’re seeing people booking new trips. People are really just ready to get out there and travel.”
The organization expects that many Ohioans will remain in-state, visiting popular spots such as the Cleveland area, the Great Lakes, Hocking Hills, Amish Country and Cincinnati over the weekend. Schwind said she also anticipates that some Ohio travelers will venture out on longer drives to Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Chicago or Tennessee to celebrate the holiday.
Despite the ease in COVID limitations for fully vaccinated Americans, Schwind recommends that road-trippers, especially those leaving the state, check their destinations’ mandates and restrictions and follow the CDC’s domestic travel guidelines. The guide suggests that fully vaccinated travelers should wear masks on all forms of public transportation and adhere to local requirements, while those who are unvaccinated and travel should wear masks and practice social distancing.
The surge in trips this holiday weekend means Ohioans will encounter more traffic than seen throughout the pandemic.
In preparation for the uptick in drivers, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, in addition to other law enforcement and public-service workers, plans to be “highly visible on Ohio’s roadways with 100% manpower,” said Sergeant Nathan Dennis, the patrol’s spokesperson.
During Memorial Day weekend last year, Sgt. Dennis said, Ohio saw 20 fatal crashes, 10 of which involved impaired driving and four of which involved passengers who were not properly wearing seat belts. After more than a year of limited traffic due to the pandemic, he wants to remind those traversing the state this weekend to wear seat belts, drive sober, stay focused on the roadways and give way to public-service officers they encounter on the streets.
“Right now, motorists are not used to seeing a large amount of traffic on the roadway so just that extra congestion of things is what’s going to make us need to be more cautious and more aware of our surroundings,” he said.
Drivers hoping for a cheap getaway this weekend may be disappointed.
The price of regular gasoline averages $2.96 in Ohio, up just under a dollar from this time last year, according to an AAA tracker.
Schwind said the key contributors to the rise in prices are an increasing demand for travel as the weather warms up, vaccination rates improving and pandemic restrictions being rolled back.
That effect has also been seen in the increase in the price of crude oil, which is refined into gasoline, as economies around the world recover, she said.
Schwind said the panic buying and supply network disruptions along the Atlantic Coast that followed the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack earlier this month had ripple effects in Ohio.
“Even though we don’t get our gas from the Colonial Pipeline, it only exacerbated the strain on the supply chain that was already present,” she said.
Finally, a national shortage of long-distance truckers is also playing a role in the high prices, she said.
“We don’t expect to see prices dropping much any time soon so they’ll probably remain at these levels throughout the summer,” Schwind added.
But this increase in road travel doesn’t mean that the leisure and hospitality industry has fully recovered from financial losses and early-pandemic lay-offs. Schwind urges Memorial Day weekenders to be aware that the industry’s reduced workforce and limited capacities in businesses will mean higher travel prices this weekend than in years past.
The Executive Director of the Ohio Travel Association, Melinda Huntley, agrees, citing the 87,300-job deficit in the leisure industry recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics between April 2019 and April 2021.
They both recommend that weekend travelers plan and call ahead to ensure that their destinations are able to accommodate them.
“Be mindful and be kind… just (understand) where some of these businesses have been and get out there,” Huntley said. “That’s the best advice — go, go visit these businesses, and really just by visiting them, by shopping and visiting an attraction and eating in a restaurant, staying in a hotel, you are helping these businesses accelerate recovery.”
Alexander Thompson of The Repository contributed to this story.
