British tourists turn their back on America
Story in the Daily Telegraph, London 21 July 2007.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ma...merica-121.xml
The number of Britons taking holidays in the United States is falling - despite the fact that the pound is now worth more than two dollars.
Earlier this year, the US Commerce Secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, claimed that international travel to the United States would reach record levels in 2007, in line with a rapid rise in global tourism.
Yet figures supplied by the Office of National Statistics show that, while travel to EU countries has increased from 41.1 million passengers in 2000 to 53.6 million in the 12 months ending in May this year, the number of Britons visiting North America actually fell from 5.1 million to 4.5 million. During this time the exchange rate has improved for Britons by nearly a third, with the value of a dollar falling from 72p to 50p. Trips by Britons to other parts of the world have increased by nearly 25 per cent since 2000.
This trend seems to have continued this summer. Figures supplied by the Civil Aviation Authority showed that 200,000 more people travelled between Britain and the US in June last year, when the dollar was worth around 55p, than they did last month when the dollar was hovering around the 50p mark.
... tour operators to Florida ... have reported that the good exchange rate has done little to encourage holidaymakers.Thomson has responded by cutting the number of holidays it offers to Florida by a third.
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Last edited by essxjay; Jul 22, 2007 at 11:49 am
Reason: Copyrighted material deleted per FT TOS guidelines