For the first time this decade, AAA estimates a decline in the number of Americans traveling during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

The national organization projects 40.4 million Americans will travel during the long holiday weekend, down 1.3 percent from last year.

This is the second consecutive travel holiday in 2008 where a year-to-year decrease was forecasted.

More than 34.2 million -- 85 percent of all holiday travelers -- intend to travel by automobile, which is down 1.2 percent from last year. Another 4.5 million -- 11 percent of all holiday travelers -- expect to fly to their destination, which is down 2.3 percent.

Nearly 1.7 million plan to travel by bus, train or another mode of transportation.

With high fuel costs impacting family vacation budgets, the travel industry is responding by offering discounts, promotions and other incentives to get people traveling this holiday. Travelers should look out for free gas card offerings, free breakfast promotions, kids-eat-free deals and car rental discounts.