U.S. Tourist Arrivals to Europe Began to Falter in Early March

Despite the weak dollar and looming recession fears, American travel to Europe remained resilient through February. But then, in what could be an ominous signal to the industry, the market began to falter.

“Before March, we were clipping right along,” said Steve Born, vice president of marketing at the Globus family of brands. “Since then, we’re down about 5 percent” in bookings to Europe.

Globus isn’t the only operator seeing a slowdown. Other operators also noted a decrease in bookings in March, ranging from 5 percent to 15 percent.

Mark Kazlauskas, president of Insight Vacations, said that Insight, as well as sister brands Trafalgar and Brendan Worldwide Vacations, were also experiencing a slump in business.

“People are definitely waiting because they want to make sure that their stock portfolios are intact and they are thinking that maybe the dollar will come back,” said Kazlauskas. Consequently, he said, customers are booking closer to their departure dates. In December, people were booking, on average, four and a half months prior to departure. Now, Kazlauskas said, the average is four months.

To combat the slowdown, Trafalgar last week launched a new Value Season marketing program, designed to encourage travel during the more affordable autumn, winter and spring months.

A few years ago, travelers to Europe were upgrading their packages. In the current economic environment, however, value is more important.

The slowdown did hit during March, when the collapse and bailout of investment banking giant Bear Stearns solidified recession concerns for many Americans. Though Europe as a whole is trending soft, there is no one particular destination bearing the brunt of the blow.

Additionally, companies are seeing customers book shorter, better-value trips to Europe. Some operators said that while the U.K. was expensive for Americans, they were actually seeing more bookings because of the value in all-inclusive tours.