May 23 (Bloomberg) -- More Americans may forgo backyard barbecues and go on road trips this Memorial Day weekend to take advantage of discounted hotel rooms and a 38 percent decline in gasoline prices.

About 32.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home this holiday weekend, a 1.5 percent increase from 2008, according to AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization. Memorial Day, which commemorates U.S. armed forces killed in service, falls on May 25 this year and marks the traditional beginning of the summer travel season.

Discounts will probably encourage more people to hit the road this year, according to Genevieve Shaw Brown, a senior editor at Travelocity.com, the Southlake, Texas-based online- reservation service. To attract visitors, hotels in Las Vegas are offering free tickets to shows, while theme-park operators are giving away admissions.

“You couldn’t pick a better time to travel,” Tim Obert, a vice president at Chicago-based hotel operator Global Hyatt Corp., said in a telephone interview. “The deals are just incredible.”

Domestic airfares are as much as 10 percent less than last year’s Memorial Day weekend and hotel rates for the summer months have fallen as much as 14 percent from a year ago after the deepening U.S. recession cut demand, Shaw Brown said.

Gas Drops

The average price of a gallon of unleaded gas was $2.391 on May 21, compared with $3.831 a year ago, according to AAA. More travelers will probably opt for road trips over flights, said Stephen Holmes, chief executive officer of time-share resort owner Wyndham Worldwide Corp. Advance reservations for Wyndham time shares over Memorial Day weekend are up 10 percent from a year earlier, he said.

“We have good reason to believe that Memorial Day will be good for us,” Holmes said in an interview. “People right now are particularly value-conscious, which helps us.”

Air travel during the holiday may decline about 1 percent, according to AAA.

Room sales on Hotwire.com, a Web site that unloads inventory for hoteliers at discount rates, are up 26 percent for the weekend from a year earlier, Hotwire Group President Clem Bason said. Still, hotels will be lucky to fill two-thirds or three-quarters of their rooms this weekend, down from about 80 percent occupancy in pre-recession years, he said.

‘Readily Available’ Deals

“In the big cities with a lot of hotel capacity, the deals are readily, readily available,” Bason said.

Bally’s Las Vegas and Harrah’s Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino are offering two-for-one show tickets. The Wynn Las Vegas is promoting a $75 resort credit for stays of two nights or more. The Diamond Wailea Resort & Spa in Maui, Hawaii, is giving away room upgrades and breakfast as well as waiving the daily resort fee on stays through Aug. 15.

“The overall sense is that people are encouraged by travel bargains,” Shaw Brown said, citing a recent Travelocity.com poll.

Some travelers are seeking even more frugal alternatives. Shelley Andagan, 27, is paying $10 to fly to Hawaii by using airline miles she has been saving for years. Andagan, an executive assistant at a Los Angeles-based law firm, will stay with friends to save money, she said in a telephone interview.

Travelocity.com is promoting low-priced trips within driving distance of home. Its Web site features some 3-star hotel rooms for less than $50 a night, according to Shaw Brown.

Bookings for air and hotel packages for Memorial Day travel have risen this year from last, according to Expedia Inc., an online travel agency based in Bellevue, Washington.

‘Economic Concerns’

“On Memorial Day or during the summer, we are finding that Americans are planning to travel and take advantage of incentives and good deals on room rates,” said Adam Weissenberg, the tourism, hospitality and leisure leader for New York-based consulting firm Deloitte LLP. “Economic concerns, however, have many travelers spending cautiously.”

Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland is promoting two additional nights and two extra days’ park admission free with any three- night vacation package. The Universal Orlando Resort in Florida is advertising four-night vacations that include a free children’s admission for every adult ticket booked.

Americans plan to take more day trips and long-weekend getaways this summer instead of week-long vacations, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Travel deals may entice people to plan trips, especially at the last minute, an association survey revealed.

Close to Home

Joyelle Pafk, 23, is taking the Hampton Jitney bus from New York City to Montauk in eastern Long Island this weekend and paying for a 3-night stay at a hotel.

“Originally, we were going to go farther away, somewhere like Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach,” said Pafk, a teacher in New York. “We decided to stay closer so we didn’t have to buy a flight or rent a car. It was going to be about twice as much.”

Hampton Jitney will charter extra vehicles if demand increases from last year, according to Jennifer Friebely, a company spokeswoman.

“The weather is expected to be good,” Friebely said in a telephone interview. “We’re very optimistic.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Allison Abell Schwartz in New York at aabell@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 23, 2009 00:01 EDT