European Turmoil Helps Stall Trans-Atlantic Tourism

A bumpy European economic recovery and battered currency have helped stall European tourism to North America especially the Caribbean and Mexico, though Canada is faring better, tourism experts say.

The number of Europeans visiting the United States and Canada fell 10 percent last year, according to government data, as cash-strapped consumers opted for vacations nearer home and business travel froze.

Despite the debt crises buffeting Greece and some other European countries and a euro which has weakened up to 15 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, the number of Europeans visiting the United States remained flat for January and February, said the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.

The Office described March, for which figures have not yet been released, as “generally positive,” but said April figures would be hurt by flight cancellations due to an ash cloud from a volcano eruption in Iceland.

“It may take a while for people to feel good enough about their future job prospects to get back into the vacation cycle that they had enjoyed,” said Rich Harrill, director of the International Tourism Research Institute at the University of South Carolina.

“Everybody checks exchange rates,” he said. “People are going to continue to look at how much will they get for their money and consider alternatives.”

The U.S. Travel Association said European tourism to the United States has never fully recovered since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks.

“The perception that the United States is not as welcoming as it was pre-9/11 continues to drive visitors away,” said the association’s Geoff Freeman, adding that Washington needed to overhaul visa and entry processes. “These visitors are walking stimulus packages,” Freeman said. “They come, they spend their money, they go home, and often with a better impression of the United States.”