May 23--Memorial Day, the traditional kickoff of the summer travel season, is just days away, and many Americans will take to the roadways and skies during the coming holiday weekend.

Roughly 1.8 million Floridians -- the same number as in 2012-- are expected to join the throng of people traveling 50 miles or more from home this year for the holiday period Thursday through Monday, AAA Travel said Wednesday.

Nationwide, however, slightly fewer Americans -- 34.8 million -- are forecast to travel this holiday period, down from 35.1 million in 2012.

The anticipated decline in holiday travel is mainly because of an 8 percent dip in air travel, fee fatigue among travelers and a waffling economy, AAA said.

"Although AAA expects to see more people traveling this summer as a whole, it looks like the summer travel season will begin with a relatively stable start," AAA spokeswoman Jessica Brady said. "However, more Americans traveled during last year's holiday weekend than initially projected, so we could again be surprised by an increase in people planning to take a trip this Memorial Day."

Although South Florida airports will be humming at certain periods this weekend, automobiles are traditionally the top mode of transportation for Memorial Day travelers.

About 31.2 million people, or 89 percent of Americans traveling for the holiday period, will use autos, up from 31.1 million in 2012, according to AAA. Of that number, 1.6 million are expected to be Floridians.

This year, 121,065 Floridians are expected to fly, down from 133,291 in 2012, while another 41,349 will take buses, trains or other modes of transportation.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport anticipates roughly 415,000 passengers will travel through the airport Thursday through Wednesday, spokesman Greg Meyer said. "The busiest day will be Friday, with 66,000 people expected."

At Palm Beach International Airport, traffic for the holiday is generally about normal, as was the case in 2012, according to officials.

Officials at Miami International Airport also expect an average weekend, with about 440,000 travelers moving through the facility Friday through Monday. The weekend days will be busier than weekdays because of cruise trips starting or ending on those days, MIA spokesman Greg Chin said.

For South Floridians planning to travel by car, there's good news, as gas prices aren't likely to spike during the holiday period if current trends hold, industry specialists say.

"Gas prices are not expected to have much of an affect on holiday travel, and will likely remain a few cents shy of last year's holiday [national] average of $3.66 a gallon," AAA's Brady said.

On Wednesday, the price for regular unleaded gasoline across South Florida averaged $3.52 to $3.58 a gallon, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That compared with $3.63 to $3.66 last year.

Holiday traffic will vary at local cruise ports.

"There may be more passengers because of the three-day holiday, but pretty much the same summer schedule [of ships]," Port Everglades spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said. The cruise ships expected in port during the holiday are the 5,400-passenger Oasis and Allure of the Seas and the 3,700-guest Carnival Freedom.

At PortMiami, six cruise ships, including Carnival Breeze, Majesty of the Seas and Norwegian Sky, plan port calls Friday through Monday, some multiple times, spokeswoman Andria Muniz-Amador said. "It's going to be busy at PortMiami this weekend, particularly on Memorial Day."

Many South Florida hotels, including the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, are forecasting a full houses this weekend,

"We are sold out Saturday and Sunday, and we will be sold out for Friday and Monday," Public Relations Manager Yaffa Mizrachi said. The hotel's shops, restaurants, bars and nightclubs are also expected to be buzzing with activity during the holiday period.

Others, which rely on locals and visitors traveling by car to fill rooms during the Memorial Day weekend, are praying for sunny skies.

"If the weather holds up, we will have a very nice weekend," said Jim Graham, director of sales and marketing at the Delray Beach Marriott, noting that about 80 percent of hotel guests for the holiday weekend will hail from local and nearby drive markets. "We expect a very strong weekend, especially Saturday evening."

[email protected], 954-356-4209 or Twitter@TheSatchreport.

___

(c)2013 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services