The unofficial start of summer is here, which means the start of summer travel season. More than 45 million Americans were projected to travel over Memorial Day Weekend, according to AAA. That’s a record high.

Some recent figures show a change in the types of consumers spending on travel this year: Households with incomes of $100,000 or more will make up about half of all travelers, according to recent survey data from Deloitte. That number was 35% in 2023.

Memorial Day weekend is a bellwether for summer travel, said Aixa Diaz at AAA. It looks like Americans still plan on traveling, they’re just doing it a bit differently this year. 

“They’re just packing up the car and maybe heading to a beach a couple hours away or maybe they’re going to the theme parks. And maybe they’re staying with family and friends to save money along the way,” she said.

It’s worth noting that AAA defines travel as any excursion at least 50 miles from home, which includes shorter trips by car.

The shift to local tourism is making the airline industry nervous, said Brian Terry, managing director of global aviation at Deloitte.

“Airlines have pared back their capacity for this summer and into the fall,” he said, by about 5% on average.

To make up for the revenue gap, airlines are focusing on top tier travelers who are more likely to make upgrades and are still long-haul traveling. 

“We are seeing a slight pullback in demand for Europe and a slight increase in demand for the Asia-Pacific area,” Terry added.

That shift might have something to do with a weaker dollar and the idea that a vacation budget can stretch further in Asia. 

Meanwhile, Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, said the tourism industry in the U.S. isn’t just worried about Americans’ vacation plans. Businesses are worried about international travelers.

“There certainly is more hesitancy for a variety of different reasons. Some of it’s political, some of it’s related to trade,” he said.

And some of it, he sad, is related to how foreigners feel they may be treated in the U.S. 

Harteveldt said in general, travel booking numbers can be a sort of proxy for how consumers feel about the economy and where it’s heading. 

“Generally most people are making their travel reservations in advance. For summer, it could be two or even three months or more in advance,” he said.

It means most people have to feel secure enough with their jobs and savings to book a big trip.