ETC Unveils Plans to Ramp Up U.S. Travel to Europe

Donald N. Martin & Company released its monthly update of American travel to Europe on behalf of the European Travel Commission (ETC). According to the report, overall trans-Atlantic traffic, which includes traffic in both directions, fell for the 14th consecutive month in December, but only by an average 1.7 percent as reported by leading carriers.

Capacity was down 6.5 percent, led again by Delta’s 22.5 percent reduction, and the average load factor was strong at 84.1, up from November’s average 79.6. U.S. travel to Europe was up slightly in October by 0.4 percent, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The U.S.-to-Europe trend has been positive for most of the second half of 2009, and the decline for the year stands at a smaller-than-projected 3.9 percent. The ETC is estimating a small drop in November, and a small increase in December.

Despite the mounting U.S. deficit, the dollar rose to 0.71 euros, its highest level versus the euro since mid-August. Downward pressure on the euro was attributed to the rapidly enlarging government debts of Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland (all suffering major shortfalls in tax revenue).