Reindeerflame

2015 is shaping up to be a great year for U.S. travelers to visit Europe, at least in the Euro zone. The Euro has dropped fairly precipitously from about $1.40 in early 2014 to $1.16 today (Jan. 16). Further, the outlook remains promising, with the Euro poised to fall perhaps as low as par (1:1).

This has the result of making prices in the Euro zone much lower for holders of the strong U.S. dollar, and makes travel more economical as purchasing power increases by 20% or even more.

Take advantage while it lasts.

Switzerland is excluded from this advisory, as its authorities have delinked the Swiss Franc from the Euro, and its value skyrocketed on the news, making Switzerland relatively more expensive, as the Swiss Franc is also a strong currency.

The downside, of course, is that the U.S. economy could suffer, with fewer exports and fewer European tourists.

SeriouslyLost

Given the US is substantially a domestic economy, not an exporting or tourist economy, the effect, if any, is likely to be minor.

valdor

It is the second most visited country in the world so I wouldn't say tourism is insignificant.

The Eurozone isn't the only country that will be cheap this year for American and Chinese (the Yuan follows the USD) tourists, Russia will be very cheap and so will Canada, Australia, Turkey...

Mauibaby2008

What is the most visited country in the world?

milehound

France has the largest number of foreign tourists.

milehound

If Hong Kong was included, China would take the top spot.

milehound

In terms of dollars spent by foreign tourists, the USA is #1.

sannmann

Should be interesting to see how the airlines price TATL airfare.

84fiero

At $1.5T in 2013, the US is the second largest exporter, behind China.

SeriouslyLost

The vast majority of US GNP is generated via domestic activity. It's not an exporter nation in so far as GNP generation goes. The value of exports is high, but that's a function of the sheer size of the economy.

SeriouslyLost

I said it wasn't an export or tourist economy.

Artpen100

Mostly looking pretty pricey in mid-June. I'm not sure that is not based on overly optimistic expectations of the US economy and more US tourists and business travelers to Europe. We'll see if that continues to be the case over the few months.

RustyC

Obama and Bernanke managed the crisis much better than most European countries did, with the latter going for austerity. Austerity is OK for cyclical recessions but is the worst thing you can do when staring a real depression in the face, as by that time consumer and business spending has shut down and you're into the spiral where panic leads to hunkering down leads to job loss leads to more panic (repeat). Government spending may be all that prevents a depression, and in the U.S. there was not only the too-small stimulus but also normal things like Social Security checks helping to shore up consumer spending (which wasn't the case in 1929!). The U.S. had a deep recession and deficits (coming down now), but it could have been much worse, such as losing 20-25% of GDP and trying to recover from that.

It's also notable that Obama and Clinton both presided over noticeable improvements in the dollar's value. I remember going to Europe on wintertime fares $300-ish in the late Clinton years with better exchange rates, even though I still wouldn't call the Benelux countries cheap.

An added problem on the inbound tourism to the U.S. side is that the visa waiver program is heavy on European countries, and it's doubtful the Chileans can make up the numbers at Disney World or the national parks. There are a number of better-off third-world countries with low terror risk and wealthier people who'd love to visit the U.S., but the process for countries not in the waiver program is expensive, time consuming and frustrating.

States most-affected include Hawaii, Florida and Nevada, and the last two of those are very important presidential battlegrounds. It has been on Obama's radar screen, but proposals so far have just centered mostly on trying to look more welcoming to visitors after definitely not looking that way after 9/11. The U.S. leaves lots of money on the table in lost tourism revenue.

florin

Right, because in Europe foreign tourists spend Euros, not dollars.

Helsinki Flyer

Most visitors to the US, come from overseas and therefore stay way longer than cross-border tourists in Europe. Half the tourists to our neighbouring Estonia come from Finland and stay for a day or two. Main motivation seems to be cheaper alcohol and getting wasted, much like in Tijuana. Not much spending per trip.