Summer Vacation Plans May Be Stopped By Increasing Travel Costs

DULUTH, Minn.- Summertime is here and people are making vacation plans, but the increased cost of traveling may get in the way.

As COVID restrictions continue to loosen, gas and hotel prices are increasing. The latest figures show Minnesota gas prices up by more than one dollar per gallon in the past year, making this more expensive as we get close to the 4th of July.

“For the holiday weekend, definitely not traveling anywhere,” said resident Elaine Kovach. “It seems like they jack the prices up all the time during the holidays.”

Northland travel agencies are seeing a big demand for vacation plans. The experts at AAA’s travel services are seeing a high volume of people looking for summer vacation ideas.

“Now that folks are seeing the restrictions loosen up, it’s causing people to really jump in at increasing numbers to make their travel plans,” said vice president of travel AAA Debbie Haas. “So we’re seeing the phones ringing off the hook.”

With more travelers, area hotels are beginning to have limited availability. We found one traveler who came to Duluth this past weekend for an event and had a hard time finding a room.

“They didn’t have it last year because of COVID,” said visitor Danial Leary. “I guess Saturday had record numbers but we couldn’t find a hotel for Saturday night.”

And if the trends continue, space will be tight and travel expenses for certain things higher, as people get out and about once again.