By all reports and estimates I’ve seen, produced by local surveys and national AAA surveys, Americans will be decreasing their Memorial Day weekend holiday travel by about 1% this year. This is the first year since 2001 that Memorial Day
weekend travel will decrease. Of course, the main culprit for this estimate is the high price of gas. According to AAA, about 31.7 million Americans are planning to travel more than 50 miles from home via car this Memorial Day weekend, a reduction of about 1% from last year.
While the holiday travel may be reduced this year, do not be misled: Memorial Day weekend in the
What businesses stand to gain this Memorial Day weekend?
Entertainment industry—movies. Memorial Day weekend is typically one of the busiest weekends for movies in the year. Movie theaters, movie production companies, and concession stands will greatly profit.
Grocery stores & restaurants. Memorial Day picnics are the things of legends, and grocery stores (and other food vendors) will be the prime source of picnic goods for the American household. Taking the family out to dinner is another popular holiday excursion.
Retail stores. Especially clothing. Memorial Day weekend sales events are some of the biggest sales days of the year for clothing stores. To many consumers, Memorial Day weekend = shop, shop, shop!
Hotels, hospitalities, airlines, gas. Despite the predicted slight decrease in travel this year, millions of Americans are yet traveling (about a tenth of the country’s population), and will be spending many dollars on airplane flights, gasoline, rental cars, hotel accommodations, spa treatments, and more.
Sports. In particular baseball. This weekend is a perfect time for the family to go to the ball park to catch a game, spending money on parking, food, etc.
So you see, it is certainly not all doom and gloom for Memorial Day weekend 2008. The American Consumption Machine marches on, and many businesses stand to make a lot of money this weekend.
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