June 23, 2010—The number of Americans traveling over this Fourth of July weekend will increase by 17.1 percent compared to last year, according to projections release_notesd Wednesday by AAA.

Glen MacDonald, director of AAA Travel Services, said with the current economic crisis, this increase is encouraging and shows growth in the U.S. economy.

“The landscape of the U.S. economy is in a much different place than it was one year ago," he said. “AAA travel agents continue to report double-digit increases in the percentage of travelers making advanced reservations for cruises, and vacation packages and online hotel bookings via AAA.com are up over last year, all of which are positive signs pointing to an increase in the number of Americans traveling this Fourth of July holiday."

In addition, AAA projects that median spending will go down even with some increase in airfare, hotels and rental car costs.

Projections are based on the research and economic forecasting of IHS Global Insight, a consulting and research firm. The complete July 4 weekend forecast is available at aaa.com/news.