This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah and the rest of the Mountain West region will see record-setting travel during the upcoming holidays, the American Automobile Association predicts.

AAA Utah spokeswoman Roylayne Fairclough said Thursday that between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, some 7.6 million residents of Utah, northern California and Nevada residents will make holiday trips of 50 miles or more.

That represents a 1 percent increase from 7.4 million a year ago, also a record.

"More Mountain West residents will travel to celebrate the holidays than ever before," Fairclough stated. "Rising incomes and a desire to gather with family and friends should make this the most traveled holiday season ever recorded."

Of those making holiday trips in or from the Mountain West, 6.8 million will do so by driving (up 1 percent). Air travel estimates account for another 540,000 region residents (up 3 percent), and 270,000 residents will board boats and trains (down 0.7 percent from 2015).

Nationally, more than 103 million Americans will travel during the holidays by all means, up 1.5 percent from a year ago.

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