Summer Travelers Head to Caribbean, South America Instead of Spain, France

Currency exchange rates across the 21-country European Union are prompting international travelers to look elsewhere this summer.

“More people are traveling internationally, but where they’re going is different,” says Amy Ziff of Travelocity, the online travel agency.

Summer bookings for countries where the euro is used, such as Spain, France and Italy, are 15 percent lower than last year, while bookings are up 16 percent for Eastern European countries that don’t use the euro, she says.

American Express’s international travel bookings for this summer so far are ahead of last year, with significant growth in China, South America, Hong Kong, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, says Mona Hamouly, spokeswoman for American Express Travel.

Many people who want to leave the USA for a week or so are going to countries where the dollar buys more.

The Caribbean’s share of Travelocity’s summer bookings is up 15 percent, the share for South America –including hotspots such as Buenos Aires- is up 13 percent, and Mexico’s share is up 47 percent.

Mexico’s tourism industry is increasing promotions and packages to capitalize on Americans’ worry about the euro, says Oscar Fitch, director of Mexico Tourism Board.

Bookings for the first three months of the year are already 10 percent higher than this time last year, he says.

About 88 million people now hold a passport, according to the U.S. State Department, 19 percent more than last year.

Western Europe still attracts the most Americans each summer, and it remains popular. American Express says that despite the currency rates, it’s seeing double-digit, year-over-year gains in trips to Zurich, Geneva and the rest of Switzerland; Pisa, Italy; and Lisbon, Portugal.

Of 200 Carlson Wagonlit agents polled, 46 percent expect international bookings to fall this summer vs. last summer. Just 19 percent of agents say they expect bookings to surpass last year’s levels.

Whitley’s group, the U.S. Tour Operators Association, which has about 350 members that sell international travel, expects international trips to be down by as much as 10 percent, he says. And 66 percent of 6,678 adults contacted in February for an AOL Travel-Zogby International poll said they plan to stay in the USA this summer.