VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Many travelers are on the move this Labor Day weekend, holding onto the last few days of summer.
With gas prices down this week, many people are getting a jump start and kicking off their last summer holiday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
Alex Coelho, who said he drives 1,000 miles a week for work, was taking advantage of the lower gas prices.
“When the prices come down, I probably save a tank of gas on savings, so it's pretty good,” Coelho said.
The price for a gallon in the Tidewater area is down $1.45 from June’s record high of $4.97.
According to AAA, the average cost of gas in Hampton Roads right now is $3.52
That’s a good thing for travelers like the Womble’s who drove to the Oceanfront from Cary, North Carolina.
“We’re here to have a good time,” Kevin Womble said.
The married couple quickly spent those extra savings on gas elsewhere.
“We have been spending,” Eva Womble laughed. “We’ve been spending at shops and stuff like that.”
That spending is trickling down to restaurants.
“For food, we balance that out,” said Eva Womble. “We go eat out and then we eat in.”
Eric Emerson is the operations director for three oceanfront businesses – The Shack, Waterman’s, and Chix. They’re hoping to bank on the expected extra crowds this Labor Day weekend.
Like many other businesses, Emerson said they’re a little understaffed. Some employees are picking up extra shifts, but they’re not complaining as the busy summer comes to a close.
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel where it’s going to slow down right afterward,” said Emerson said. “Everybody’s happy to get their last bit of work in and get those extra hours or extra tips.”
While AAA says more people will be traveling by car than plane this holiday weekend, the TSA is expecting an uptick.
TSA checkpoint travel numbers show 2,312,486 people took to the skies Thursday, September 1. That’s more than the same day pre-pandemic in 2019, where 2,109,858 traveled by plane.
