Gail Delaughter/Houston Public Media
Millions of Texans are expected to travel this weekend, despite higher gas prices and rising airfare costs.
Filling up his car at a Murphy Express gas station off Interstate 45 in southeast Houston, Roderick Cosey said he’s gearing up for a trip to Miami later this summer, where he’ll visit his cousin — and the beach.
“We want to take our own car down there, so we don’t have to rent nothing down there,” he said. “But it’s going to kill us to drive down there.”
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Cosey lives in north Houston, but drove down to this convenience store for the cheaper gas, which at the time was $3.64 per gallon for regular unleaded.
“I wish they had these gas prices down there in Miami,” he said. “That’s what I wish, you know? But you got to do what you got to do.”
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Gas prices have reached $4 per gallon and higher in some parts of Texas due to the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran. The price of jet fuel has also increased as a result of the war.
Still, despite higher fuel costs and airfare prices, Texas tourism leaders said the industry hasn’t seen much of an impact yet.
Roughly 3.7 million Texans are expected to travel for Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer travel season. According to AAA, the number of Texans traveling for the holiday this year is about the same as last year.
“Historically, when we’ve seen gas prices higher, heading into a big, major holiday travel period, it does not deter most people from taking that trip,” AAA spokesperson Doug Shupe said.
Instead, he said, many Texans are simply modifying their travel plans to make a vacation more feasible.
“They may adjust their schedules a little bit — perhaps they don’t drive as far, or they don’t go for as many days or they stay with friends and family instead of spending money at hotels,” he said. “Or they’ll pack food for the road trip, instead of spending money at restaurants.”
Meanwhile, Houston’s tourism leaders expect the FIFA World Cup to boost visitors to the city, at least for the first few weeks of summer. Houston is hosting seven matches in the international soccer tournament in June and July, which could bring in as many as 500,000 visitors.
A.J. Mistretta is a spokesperson for the Houston First Corporation, which oversees tourism for the city.
“Beyond the second week of July when [the] World Cup wraps up, at least for us, it’s to be determined,” he said. “Will we see a decrease in leisure visitors? We hope not.”
Mistretta said Houston hotels are coming off of a record first quarter, with hotel stays boosted by events such as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the World Baseball Classic and spring break.
Right now, he said, hotel bookings are about the same as they were this time last year in mid-May. While hotels are celebrating the strong first quarter, Mistretta said he hasn’t heard much yet about their predictions for the summer.
“I think everybody’s kind of taking a wait-and-see approach,” he said. “We don’t know yet if it’s going to be a significant impact.”
Back at the Murphy Express gas station, Laura Vazquez said her family is planning to drive up to 16 hours to visit relatives in San Luis Potosí, Mexico this summer. Her family is budgeting $800 dollars just to pay for gas for the road trip — double what they normally set aside.
“We were planning to visit different cities in Mexico,” she said. “But because of the gas prices, we probably have to cut it down and maybe wait until next year.”