Holiday travel

Holiday travel

NEW YORK

A stronger economy, rising consumer confidence and cheap gasoline will likely have Americans traveling in big numbers this Independence Day.

An estimated 41.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday weekend, up 0.7 percent from last year and the most since 2007, right before the recession, according to travel agency and car lobbying group AAA.

As usual, the vast majority of travelers will be using their cars: about 85 percent. Gas currently costs $2.78 a gallon, down 88 cents from the same time last year. That means a family driving 200 miles on highways will save about $7.30 for their holiday gas this year.

AAA defines the holiday period as July 1 through July 5.

Flight 93 Memorial

SHANKSVILLE, Pa.

The National Park Service plans to provide a construction update on the visitor center being built at the Flight 93 National Memorial in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The memorial marks the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field about 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh after passengers fought back against hijackers during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

A permanent memorial was dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. And the Park Service in 2013 awarded a $20 million contract to URS Group Inc. of Morrisville, North Carolina, to build the visitor center and do other site improvements.

The visitor’s center is expected to open later this year, and the update is expected to provide more details.

Officials hope it will boost annual visitors from about 300,000 to 500,000.

Geography quiz

Q. Switzerland is bordered by five countries. Name them.

A. Austria and Liechtenstein on the east, Italy on the south, France on the west and Germany on the north.

Arizona tourism

PHOENIX

Tourism officials say 2014 was a record-breaking year for travel to the state.

The Arizona Republic reports the state set new tourism records in 2014 with about 4 percent more people staying overnight and spending about $20.9 billion.

Almost half of the 40.7 mil- lion visitors to the state last year stayed in the Phoenix area, while the Grand Canyon attracted 8 million tourists to northern Arizona.

Park visitation

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo.

Yellowstone National Park has seen about 24 percent more visitors January through May of this year compared to the same time period in 2014.

Yellowstone has recorded more than 515,000 recreational visits so far through May this year. That compares to about 415,000 for January through May 2014.

July is typically the park’s peak visitation month, followed by August, June, September and May.

Combined dispatches