NEW YORK - Instead of going overseas, more Americans will be making inbound trips to spend time with family and friends during the holiday season.

AAA Mid-Atlantic said trips within the United States will increase by 3.1 percent during the year-end holidays, thanks to a modestly improved economic environment. The year-end holidays travel period is defined as Dec 23 to Jan 2.

About three-fourths of travelers said the main purpose of their trip was to visit friends or family, a survey of traveler intentions showed.

AAA said domestic airfares are about 3 percent lower this year, with an average lowest round-trip rate of $174 for the top 40 US air routes.

While air travelers are increasing by 3 percent, the car remains the favorite mode of transport. Ninety-three percent of travelers will drive to their holiday destinations, with the rest by air, rail, bus and watercraft.

Some of the more popular Christmas travel destinations are Las Vegas, Orlando, New York and Honolulu, the travel site Orbitz.com said.

On the other hand, agencies that sell overseas trips do not see bright prospects this year.

iExplore, a Chicago-based travel company that organizes overseas adventure travels, reported a 27 percent drop in Christmas holiday travels this year. The company had 303 passengers who traveled abroad for Christmas last year, and 219 passengers this year.

Although China is one of the top 10 destinations for iExplore, they have fewer Americans going to China during Christmas this year.

Last Christmas, it had 46 passengers going to China, and this Christmas, they will have 34 passengers, said Carmen Moore, adventure specialist at iExplore.

Americans tend to favor warmer destinations such as Morocco, Brazil, Chile and Argentina during Christmas, said Moore.

China International Travel Service (CITS) USA, a company in California that specializes in organizing trips to China, agreed that the year-end period is a low season.

CITS USA, a branch company of the largest tour operator in China, sends between 1,000-1,500 Americans to China every year, said Frank Li, general manager of CITS USA.

This year, business has increased by 20 percent. In December, CITS USA has about 20 American passengers, twice as much as last year. The most popular destinations are Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guilin and the Yangtze River, Li said.

"December and Christmas period is a low season because of the weather. Winter in China is low season," Li said.

"American tourists do not want to spend money and risk being stranded at airports due to drastic weather.

"The peak for our business would be between March to May and September to October where the weather in China would be nice.

"Summer time is also popular," Li said.