Lodging expenses push vacation costs higher

? Summer travelers already feeling the pinch of higher gas prices may find that lodging costs more, too.

The AAA auto and travel association found in its annual vacation costs survey, released Wednesday, that combined lodging and restaurant costs were 3.7 percent higher than last year.

Michael Petrone, director of tourism information development for AAA, said that lodging rates were up because of higher demand, and both lodgings and restaurants faced rising energy costs as well as higher salary and benefit costs.

Hawaii remained the state with the highest daily cost for food and lodging for a family of four – $650 a day.

Other U.S. designations in the top five were the District of Columbia, about $611 a day; Rhode Island, $345; New York, $326; and New Jersey, $324.

The most economical lodging and food prices were in North Dakota, about $187 per day; Nebraska, $199; Iowa and Kansas, $201; and South Dakota, $204.