GEORGIA, United States – LAST Memorial Day, Ronald Dolly spent the long weekend in Miami Beach with two friends. This year, the destination is the same, but the quarters are closer: 11 people, two cars, one hotel room.

“There are a lot of us, so it will be a lot cheaper,” Dolly, a student from the Atlanta area who studies health care management, said Friday. He figured the trip would work out to an average of less than US$40 per person.

Welcome to another scaled-back summer of travel. More people will hit the road than did last year, but their budgets will be even tighter than in 2009, thanks to persistently high unemployment, stock markets in retreat and the fragile economy.

Auto club AAA says about 32.1 million Americans will travel over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, roughly 5 per cent more than last year. Families will spend an average of US$809, or US$67 less than a year ago.

They’re knocking down the cost, travel agents say, by staying closer to home, choosing less-expensive modes of transportation or by picking destinations based on the best fares and lodging they can find.

In summers past, Dennis Chang and his family visited Disney World or Jamaica. But this year, with his wife recently out of work, the 33-year-old clothing designer from Laurel, Maryland, says the family is scaling back.

The more likely destination for this summer is Virginia Beach, Virginia, a four-hour drive away, with sandwiches in the car and hunting for discounted tickets to theme parks along the route.

Debbie Dixson, an airline bag checker from St Louis, can get cheap tickets to New York or Paris through her job. But the cost of food, lodging and entertainment in a big city would quickly wipe out whatever she saved. So she and her husband will instead drive to Douglas, Michigan, to meet their six kids for a week’s stay in a cabin along Lake Michigan.

While the economy is recovering, travel has bounced back slowly, says Steve Piraino, senior economist at IHS Global Insight. His firm attributes it to high unemployment, still hovering near 10 per cent.

The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending was stagnant in April and is at its weakest level in seven months. The savings rate rose last month, showing that more people are holding on to their money in uncertain economic times.

Hotels and resorts are trying to entice people into longer stays with lower rates or discounts at restaurants and spas. As a result, the average room rate is down slightly to about US$95, according to travel research firm STR. It was US$107 just two years ago.

In states from Texas to Florida that are threatened by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, resorts are offering free golf and complimentary room nights. Some have promised a full refund if the oil hits popular beaches.

Some theme parks are offering specials on traditionally slower days. At Hersheypark in Pennsylvania, guests who stay three nights or more can buy a special US$89.95 pass good for unlimited trips to the theme park, zoo, botanical garden and museum. A standard one-day pass is US$52.95.

The vast majority of Americans drive to their summer vacation spots, and they should get a break at the pump in the weeks ahead. The nationwide average for gas is US$2.75 a gallon, and analysts think it could fall as low as US$2.65 by July 4.