U.S. Vacationers Will Stay Close to Home this Summer, Experts Say

School is out for the summer and people are on the move. Though vacation plans are widely varied, there are some trends in how and where people are getting away this season. And this is not exactly welcome news for many travel destinations in the Caribbean that bank heavily on the flow of American trekkers.

The Consumer Preference Index (CPI) shows longer trips are out this year. Only 8 percent of American would-be travelers polled by experts say they plan to vacation for two weeks or longer during the summer months. Seventy-two percent plan to holiday for only three to seven days.

And, if vacationers are not going away for long, they are not going far either. According to CPI, only 4 percent of summer travelers plan to leave the continental United States. Forty-nine percent of them have opted to stay in their home state. Forty-seven percent will venture to surrounding states.

How will people be getting to their destinations? A considerable chunk of them will do it by car. In fact, 82.8 percent of travelers will be driving to their summer hot spot rather than the 15 percent who will be flying.