Increasing Fuel Prices Will Not Stop Travel This Summer

It’s no secret that the past two years haven’t been easy on the travel industry. And when it seemed people were ready to venture out into the world again, rising fuel prices made a dent in those travel plans. Or have they? Travel expert Sarah Dandashy said the evidence supports that despite the sharply increased costs on everything, people are still making those summer travel destination plans.

Have Car Rental, Will Travel

According to Allianz Partners, car rental reservations are up 13% this year compared to last. This year’s top summer rental car destinations include Los Angeles; Portland, OR; Honolulu; Boston; Seattle, Kahului, and San Diego. People are traveling once more, and big cities are the hot spots.

“Instead of necessarily seeking only open spaces as we saw in the past couple of years, people want to explore different cities,” Dandashy said. “If you look at these cities, they are all cities that are pretty spread out, and having a car is certainly beneficial and adds to the experience. People are getting back out there and going to these cities and exploring places they may haven’t considered exploring in the past two years.”

And when booking a car rental, ask if an EV option is available. With electric fueling stations public in many of these popular city destinations, it could be a great way to reduce travel costs. Although there could be an additional charge for renting the EV, the fuel savings could be worth it.

What about a Staycation?

Perhaps a more local destination is in order for those on a budget and looking to avoid costly airfare. This summer could be the perfect opportunity to take a car and travel a shorter distance to a destination. In a June 11th Tyler Morning Telegraph article, Harold Doty, Professor of Management at The University of Texas at Tyler, suggested, “It’s not that people have stopped traveling yet; it’s that they’ve reduced how far they’re willing to travel to help reduce fuel cost.”

Even with rising gas prices, a road trip could save money over flying and provide opportunities to seek closer destinations that surprise and delight.

Benefits Outweigh the Costs

Whether it’s hitting the road, or taking a flight to that summer travel destination, no matter the costs, the benefits could be worth more than the money spent on the vacation. Metrosource offered five benefits to traveling this summer, including reducing stress and anxiety.

One thing people have learned from the pandemic is time is precious. Yes, the increased costs from fuel to food to pretty much everything else are not anyone’s ideal. It certainly would make life easier to plan a trip if prices were lower. But with two summers lost to a pandemic, can people afford a third summer of travel lost due to sticker shock at the gas station? If traveling this past Memorial Day weekend is any indication, the answer is: bring on the destination.