COLUMBUS – While the number of Ohioans booking Labor Day weekend trips is about the same as last year, those who are traveling are planning longer, more expensive trips, according to the AAA.
The five-day holiday period runs Thursday through Monday and Ohioans planning to use it am, and then some. The average trip length being planned is 5.3 days, according to AAA’s survey of its travel offices, up from last year’s average of 4.6 days.
They are also planning to spend more while they travel, about 26 percent more, and it won’t all be on gasoline. The AAA predicts the lowest Labor Day weekend gas price average since 2004.
Monday morning’s statewide average price of regular gas in Monday’s survey by the AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc., ($2.19) was almost identical to last year’s Labor Day weekend price ($2.18). The average price in Columbus was $2.07, down 12 cents from a week earlier but 10 cents more than on July 29. The price last year at this time was $2.41.
Analysts say pump prices have been driven by crude a 20 percent surge in oil prices last month and refinery issues impacting production in Ohio and neighboring states. The BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., which is the region’s largest, was slow to come back on line following production problems.
Nevertheless, AAA experts say prices for drivers in Ohio and the great Lakes region are some of the cheapest in the country.
The auto club says Ohioans’ favorite in-state destinations are the Hocking Hills, Lake Erie Shores and Islands and Amish Country.
The most popular out-of-state destinations are Orlando, Fla., Alaska and San Francisco.