Discount for “poor” Americans at Venice bar

by Anna Brones on

The dollar might be low, but if you make your way to Venice you can count on a discount from Harry’s Bar, the renowned Venetian watering hole said to be the birthplace of the Bellini and Carpaccio, and where Ernest Hemingway himself downed martinis. Offering a discount to “poor” Americans who are suffering from the weak dollar is representative of a growing concern across Europe that a decrease in US tourists will have an effect on the tourism industry.

At the entrance of Harry’s Bar you now find a sign that says, “Harry’s Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a special 20 percent discount on all items of the menu during the short term of their recovery.”

How bad is the current state of the US dollar? When the euro was first introduced in 2002, one US dollar was worth 1.10 euro. Today the same dollar gets about .64 euro, which makes the price of even a simple meal of nutella and a baguette expensive.

“Since the start of January, we noticed a drop in (American) customers of between five and 10 percent and now that we are in April its looks really frightening,” said Arrigo Cipriani, owner of Harry’s Bar. Then again, what better solution to economic frustration than a refreshing Bellini?

Dollars hard to sell in Amsterdam

by Anna Brones on

You may be sick of hearing how low the dollar is, but today we have just another example of how badly the American currency is fairing. In Amsterdam, small currency outlets are refusing to buy dollars for euros, making it difficult for tourists to exchange their money.

“Our dollar is worth maybe zero over here,” said Mary Kelly, an American tourist from Indianapolis, Indiana as reported by Reuters. “It’s hard to find a place to exchange. We have to go downtown, to the central station or post office.”

Small currency exchanges are different than banks and other institutions in that they don’t want to be holding a currency that will devalue and be worth less next time they have to sell it. One euro is currently worth $1.58, compared to $1.47 a month ago. If you want to make your travel money last, it’s probably time to find a job in Europe.

US Dollar in 2008: a comeback for the greenback?

by Anna Brones on

A low dollar is incredibly depressing for someone who, much like myself, enjoys traveling to Europe. In order to not fall into the black hole of a personal economic depression last summer when I was living in France, I actually stopped doing mental conversions and just accepted the prices in euros as they were. Example: “That shirt costs 25 euros? Great, that’s close enough to $25” (FYI: it’s not). The situation would have been even worse if the shirt’s price tag was in British pounds. Needless to say, by the end of the summer when I checked my bank account, I got a nice little shock.

Don’t think that all Europeans have been jumping for joy with the low exchange rate. Despite the fact that weekend trips to the good ole US of A now have a nice price tag, tourism is a two way street and Americans visiting the old continent have taken a decrease. The BBC reported today that in December 2007 tourism in London had fallen by 4.1%, which was accredited to the low dollar rate.

Some economists however are currently speculating that the dollar might make a year end comeback towards the latter part of 2008. Jeremy Stretch, the senior currency strategist at Rabobank, gave Americans and the global economy some sense of reassurance when he stated that the dollar could go as low as $1.50 to the euro, but that come the autumn months it could bounce back to $1.35. Add to that a high UK trade deficit and a weakening housing market and those tourists might soon come flocking back to London. As for Americans touring the rest of Europe, we will just have to wait and see.

I want to be excited at the prospect of the dollar regaining some strength, but even at $1.35, that 25 euro shirt is still…. well, I am not going to go there.

Dollar Crumples But Tourists Still Come to Europe

by Iva Skoch on

The latest plunge of the dollar (more than 2 dollars to the British pound now and 1.35 to the Euro) caused many Americans in Europe to scale back their vacations, July 19 NY Times article reports. Apparently, these things are all relative. It has not significantly influenced the number of Americans traveling to Europe. Just as people are getting used to the nearly $4 gallons of gas, they are getting used to $5 cans of soda and $300 mediocre hotel rooms in Europe.

What it has changed, however, is the number of Europeans–with strong currency to their advantage–traveling to the US. It was cheap for Europeans to buy clothes and electronics in the US before (because of the low sales tax) but now with the exchange rate, it is super-cheap. Last time I was flying from London to NYC, they actually handed out magazines advertising all the real estate bargains in the world. One of the bargains was Manhattan, NY. I had to laugh.