[国际新闻] 美国观光客游欧消费变贵

对于今夏去欧洲观光的美国人来说，美元对欧元、英镑的大幅贬值，欧洲物品的奇贵使他们在旅游途中感到扫兴。但美国人对欧洲旅游的兴趣仍有增无减。
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来自维吉尼亚州瀑布教堂市的金斯雷（Michael Kingsley）抵达德国海德堡一天之后，既无心情去欣赏这个罗曼蒂克大学城的鹅卵石街道、半木半石结构的房屋、栽满鲜花的窗户，亦不想到山丘上的城堡去录像。他把录像机的电池和充电器忘在伦敦旅馆里，买新电池和充电器需要145元。而在他的家乡，同样东西还不到100元。

金斯雷夫妇在伦敦旅馆的住费为五百元一晚。Harrods百货公司10元一块的巧克力嚼五下就没了。但59岁的金斯雷说：「这没什么。我只要多任务几年，就可支付这次度假的开销。」

他的妻子劳拉安慰他说：「这只是在玩钱嘛。」
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现在，自美元五年前对欧元、英镑贬值以来，美国游客已习惯于欧洲各国首都五元一杯的咖啡和三位数以上的餐馆晚餐消费。但美元最近的大幅贬值（一美元兑72欧分或49便士），使许多美国游客感到欧洲的物价不仅昂贵，而且贵得出奇。

来自加州圣伯纳汀诺的门卫柯洛夫特（Kaelon Kroft）表示，他在巴黎最吃惊的高价物品是「四欧元一杯的可口可乐。我们在餐馆喝的可口可乐是9.5欧元一罐。旅馆酒吧卖的是5.5美元一杯」。+ Z! ^3 l4 I. I7 ]" `+ q  n

金斯雷夫妇和柯洛夫特夫妇为了减少美元贬值带来的痛苦，缩短了在欧洲观光的日程，但从未考虑取消欧洲之旅。人在德国社区2 N. }& `% q. @& x6 r

从爱尔兰到义大利的许多美国游客，都抱这种乐观主义的态度。) p  H( ]  _; C- G

法国、德国、西班牙等国的旅游统计数据亦显示，即使美元贬值，美国今年去欧洲旅游的人数仍在增加。  S2 r2 J5 z% e: g* G# U  |
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旅游专家表示，这帮助美国游客的弹性和富裕，以及欧洲对美国人的长久吸力。: {) T4 S! E8 N' M: g* }
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Josh, left, Laura and Michael Kingsley touring Heidelberg, Germany.
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As Dollar Crumples, Tourists Overseas Reel
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HEIDELBERG, Germany, July 17 — A day after Michael Kingsley arrived in this romantic university town, he was in no mood to savor the cobblestone streets, the half-timbered houses or the flower-bedecked windows — to say nothing of the camera-ready castle on the hill.

Mr. Kingsley had left his camera battery and charger in a hotel room in London, and he knew that as an American tourist, buying replacements here was going to sting. The damage: $143. Back home in Falls Church, Va., he said, the same purchase would have set him back no more than $100.人在德国社区8 X& n' [  F, E

For Americans visiting Europe this summer, the steep decline of the dollar against the euro and the British pound has made eye-popping prices a lamentable part of the traveler’s tale. (The Kingsley family’s hotel room in London was $500 a night; five bite-sized chocolates at Harrods cost $10.)

“It’s O.K.,” said Mr. Kingsley, 59, with a resigned laugh. “I’ll just have to work a few extra years to pay off this vacation.” His wife, Laura, did her best to soothe him. “It’s just play money,” she said.csuchen.de6 V- d  k) K' @+ a/ U! p

By now, five summers after the dollar began its long swoon against the euro and the pound, American travelers are used to $5 cups of coffee and triple-digit dinner checks in Europe’s great capitals. But the dollar’s latest plunge — to $2.05 to the pound and to a record of $1.38 to the euro — has turned mere sticker shock into a form of suspended disbelief for many tourists.
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For Kaelon Kroft, a custodian from San Bernardino, Calif., it was the cost of Coke that shocked him most in Paris. “We just paid 9.5 euros for a can of Coke at a cafe,” he said. “At our hotel, the bar was serving a glass of Coke for four euros.”

“That’s over five bucks,” his wife, Kristi, added. Actually, at the current exchange rate, it is a fizzy bubble or two over $5.52.
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The Krofts and the Kingsleys both scaled back their European holidays to limit the pain of the currency pinch. But neither family seriously thought of canceling the vacation, and their glass-is-half-full determination to make the best of things was echoed in interviews with American tourists from Ireland to Italy.

It is also reflected in the tourism statistics in France, Germany, Spain and other countries, which show that the number of Americans visiting Europe has increased this year, even as the value of the dollar has eroded. Travel experts say this speaks both to the resilience and rising affluence of American tourists, as well as to the perennial appeal of Europe as a destination.

“Americans who visit Europe tend to be more educated, with higher incomes, so they are less affected by the exchange rate,” said Joachim Scholz, a researcher at the German National Tourist Board. “Even backpackers have more money than they used to, if you look at the price of hostels.”

Americans spent $3.8 billion on travel-related services in Europe in the first quarter of this year, a 5.5 percent increase from the quarter a year ago, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. They spent $22.8 billion in 2006, nearly 10 percent more than in 2002, when the dollar was close to parity with the euro.

That should be a relief to innkeepers and restaurateurs here, because many currency experts say the dollar — pulled down by the combination of a persistent trade deficit with the rest of the world, a slower American economy and an unexpectedly vigorous Europe — has not reached bottom against the euro.

Ashraf Laidi, chief currency strategist at CMC Markets in New York, described the dollar’s decline as “pervasive.” He predicts that it could trade at $1.42 to the euro by the end of this year. The outlook for Americans in Britain is better: Mr. Laidi thinks the dollar is close to its nadir against the pound.) o# W% L9 n: l5 ?- m# ?5 ]2 K

Across the Atlantic, the weaker dollar has encouraged a European travel boom to the United States. And the currency changes are spurring a shift in trade, with American exports to the rest of the world picking up even as European officials are becoming louder in their complaints that the cheaper dollar is undermining the global competitiveness of their manufacturers.) c# l6 h* F% x0 k6 _$ G+ ?

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Michael Kingsley paid $143 for a camera battery and charger in Germany; the cost at home would be $100.8 r6 K, V. b8 ?% ~/ t- V# n

[ 本帖最后由日月光于 2007-7-20 12:22 编辑 ]

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