Massachusetts Travelers Outpace the Country in Thanksgiving Travel, And Who's Going to Vegas?

This Thanksgiving, are you headed to Vegas, New York City or Orlando to break bread? According to AAA Northeast, those are among the top five destinations for travelers this holiday.

AAA projects that 48.7 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving, an increase of one million travelers compared with last year, it announced in a press release. That's a 1.9 percent increase over 2015, and is the most Thanksgiving travelers since 2007.

"Massachusetts is projected to strongly outpace the national projections in all modes of travel, based in part on stability in the price of gasoline," said AAA in a release.

AAA estimates that U.S. drivers have saved more than $28 billion for far at the pumps this year compared to the same period last year. Close to 1.1 million Massachusetts residents are expected to travel this year, a 4.7 percent increase over 2015. Nearly 950,000 from Massachusetts are expected to drive to their destinations, and that's up 5.1 percent from last year.

The vast majority – more than 89 percent – of holiday travelers will drive this Thanksgiving, up 1.9 percent, while travel by air will be up 1.6 percent.

“One million more Americans than last year will carve out time to visit with family and friends this Thanksgiving,” said Mary Maguire, AAA Northeast director of public and legislative affairs, in a statement. “Most will travel on the tried and true holiday road trip, thanks to gas prices that are holding steady throughout the Fall months.”

This year’s top vacation destinations for Thanksgiving include many popular west coast cities, as well as perennial family-friendly favorites, according to AAA.

The most popular destinations this Thanksgiving, based on AAA.com bookings, are:

1. Las Vegas
2. San Francisco
3. San Diego
4. Orlando
5. New York City
6. New Orleans
7. Anaheim
8. Fort Lauderdale
9. Philadelphia
10. Seattle

AAA’s travel projections are based on economic forecasting and research by IHS Markit, which first teamed with AAA in 2009 to jointly analyze travel trends during major holidays.