American tourists in Paris said on Monday (March 16) that they were more likely to travel to Europe since the euro’s slide towards parity with the dollar, and that once in Europe they were likely to make more purchases.
“You don’t feel like you’re spending quite so much. And it’s almost one to one in a way right now between the U.S. dollar and the euro, so it’s also very easy to convert in your mind when you’re about to buy something. It makes it simple,” said Lisa, who was visiting Paris from Connecticut.
The euro rose 1 percent on Monday to $1.06 after its fall to a 12-year low of $1.0457 in the Asian session.
Susie Flynn, who was visiting Paris for the first time with her daughter, said she was more likely to plan trips to Europe if the exchange rate remained favorable for the U.S. dollar.
“When I planned the trip six months ago it was going to cost me I think $1.34 to get a dollar in a euro. Now it was $1.3 so it was awesome. And I exchanged a bunch of my money in the States when I came over. So yeah, it’s made a big impact because I can actually spend more money. It’s gone down considerably,” said Flynn, who is from Florida.
International tourism arrivals in Europe are expected to rise by between 3 and 4 percent this year, compared with 4 percent last year, according to forecasts from the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
Jane Silverman, visiting Paris from Massachusetts for her daughter’s 21st birthday, said traveling to euro zone countries was more reasonable than the United Kingdom, for example, where her daughter studies.
“Well we’re here on vacation in Paris visiting with my daughter who’s in school in London. And it definitely was a lot easier coming here because the euro was definitely got more bangs for the buck. I stayed in a nicer hotel; we’ve been able to do a little bit more visiting. The British pound is really difficult as far as money is concerned it doesn’t go far at all. But we’re really enjoying our stay here in Paris,” Silverman said.
The euro has lost roughly a quarter of its value against the dollar since mid-2014 and suffered its biggest weekly fall since September 2011 last week, shedding 3.2 percent.
(Reuters)