Gas prices expected to boost holiday travel in South Carolina

Holiday travelers in the Carolinas will get a gift this year at the gas pumps.

Gas prices in South Carolina are the cheapest they’ve been since Feb. 1, averaging about $3.03 a gallon, a break on the pocketbook that might spur even more folks to hit the highways during the 11-day holiday period, according to AAA Carolinas. Prices have fallen 72 cents a gallon since peaking May 5 and are 11.5 cents a gallon less than the prices just before Thanksgiving, the travel group said on Tuesday.

Myrtle Beach has the state’s most expensive gas at an average of $3.07 – though some stations are selling a gallon of regular unleaded for just under $3 – while Spartanburg has the state’s cheapest gas at an average $3 a gallon, according to AAA Carolinas.

Falling gas prices are welcome news for travelers who usually see prices tick up as major travel holidays approach.

“Gas prices are encouraging people to get out,” said Tom Crosby, spokesman for Charlotte-based AAA Carolinas. “They are lower and keep getting lower – it’s a big plus.”

Most of the 1.2 million South Carolinians who are traveling for the holidays between Friday and Jan. 2 – 92 percent – will drive to their destinations. About 6 percent will fly – down slightly as airfares have jumped 21 percent since last year – and about 2 percent will travel other ways, such as by bus, according to AAA Carolinas. Overall travel is expected to be up about 3 percent compared to last year.

Though the travel is spread across 11 days, Friday and Saturday are likely to be among the busiest days of the travel period, Crosby said, urging drivers to be patient. Folks aren’t traveling as far this holiday as last year, averaging 726 miles roundtrip from 1,050 miles a year ago – a decline reflecting the lighter air travel, Crosby said.

Nationally, 1 percent fewer people will be flying on U.S. airlines for the holidays compared with last year because of lingering economic concerns, Airlines for America, a trade group formerly known as the Air Transport Association, said Tuesday.

But the drop in air travel doesn’t mean folks flying won’t face crowds. Flights are expected to be full because airlines have reduced the number of flights and planes to adjust to demand, higher operating costs and to try to continue to be profitable, according to the airline association.

Myrtle Beach International Airport, which is amid construction to expand its terminal, started seeing holiday-related traffic picking up on Monday, spokeswoman Lauren Morris said. Those flying in the next two weeks should plan to arrive early to navigate new parking patterns during the busy holiday travel period and even carpool or have someone drop them off, she said.

“Please give yourself extra time,” Morris said.

While some residents will be headed out of town to ring in the New Year, the beach is expected to be a bit busier that weekend than it has been in recent weeks as revelers come here to celebrate. Though still a far cry from the summer crowds, hotels are expected to be about 40 percent to 45 percent full the New Year’s Eve weekend, a slight decline from the 48 percent New Year’s weekend occupancy last year because of the timing of the holiday, said Taylor Damonte of Coastal Carolina University’s Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism.

It’s still a much busier weekend than others this time of year, including Christmas this weekend, when occupancy is expected to hit only 15 percent, he said.

“We don’t see [New Year’s Eve weekend] being quite as strong as last year,” Damonte said. “But it’s the best weekend we will have between now and the Martin Luther King holiday.”

The still wobbly economy isn’t keeping folks from traveling to see loved ones for the holidays, Crosby said.

“People are understanding that they can weather the bad economy,” he said. “The holidays are special.”