SPort
May 15, 00, 7:18 pm
*** Dollar helps American tourists
PARIS (AP) - As the elevator begins its climb up the Eiffel Tower, the voices in one corner have a Texas twang. Nearby are a couple from New York and two women from San Francisco. Americans visiting Paris - and Europe as a whole - are hardly unusual. But as this year's tourist season gets underway, the old world is far cheaper for holders of U.S. dollars, and more and more Americans are cashing in on European vacations. The European Travel Commission estimates that a record 12 million American tourists will visit Europe this year, spurred by a strong dollar and bargain airfares. That would top
1999's record 11.6 million. In the past, Americans have found some European countries more affordable than others, due to different
currencies. Now, they're almost uniformly cheaper. A depreciating euro - the single currency for 11 European nations - has shed roughly 25% of its value since its creation 16 months ago.
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2566441130-e7b
PARIS (AP) - As the elevator begins its climb up the Eiffel Tower, the voices in one corner have a Texas twang. Nearby are a couple from New York and two women from San Francisco. Americans visiting Paris - and Europe as a whole - are hardly unusual. But as this year's tourist season gets underway, the old world is far cheaper for holders of U.S. dollars, and more and more Americans are cashing in on European vacations. The European Travel Commission estimates that a record 12 million American tourists will visit Europe this year, spurred by a strong dollar and bargain airfares. That would top
1999's record 11.6 million. In the past, Americans have found some European countries more affordable than others, due to different
currencies. Now, they're almost uniformly cheaper. A depreciating euro - the single currency for 11 European nations - has shed roughly 25% of its value since its creation 16 months ago.
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2566441130-e7b