Bleak tourism season hits Europe

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-20 14:47

Tourists are lured to destinations with cheaper currencies, like Turkey and Morocco, cut short their holiday plans due to the weak dollar and pound or stay at home worried about their jobs or swine flu, industry officials and businesses said.

Those who do travel look for cheaper deals, wait for hotels to slash prices and spend less on extras -- including souvenirs like those Ntaras sells in Athens. People tend to stick to their main holiday but cut other trips, officials say.

High-end accommodation and businesses dealing with trans-atlantic travel suffer most as companies cut corporate travel, while many in the industry complain that Americans, Germans and Britons, top spenders who often make up a big share of their income, have stayed at home because of the crisis.

In France, where tourism accounts for just over 6 percent of GDP, hotels were especially hard hit with seven consecutive months of declines in occupancy rates, but cheaper camp sites have reported relatively strong bookings.

"The price is the key thing this year, with (holiday) budgets shrinking on average 150 euros by comparison with 2008," said Didier Arino at French tourism body Protourisme.

A survey by lastminute.com showed half of Italians asked planned to spend less on their holiday this year than last year and a third had cut back on the length of their vacation.

As tourism goes down, related industries like construction are also hit and jobs are shed, weighing on European economies. A Reuters survey of 39 economists showed GDP in the 16-nation euro zone contracting for the fifth consecutive quarter to 0.5 percent for April-June.

The poor season is expected to be one of the main factors pushing Greece -- where tourism accounts for nearly a fifth of GDP and one in five jobs -- into its first recession since 1993. More than 19,000 jobs were cut in the first six months, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said.

Elsewhere in Europe, the UNWTO and officials in major tourist destinations France and Spain say local tourism will help offset a lack of tourists from abroad.

Domestic tourism in Spain, where the industry accounts for just over a tenth of the economy, is forecast to grow by 4 percent this year. The number of French travelling abroad on holiday was expected to fall between 5-10 percent this year, with many travelling in France instead.

"Domestic tourism is doing OK and people are staying more within the European Union," said Tim Fairhurst, Head of Group Tourism at the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA).

But not everyone was unhappy.

Australian Daniel Noble, 23, was relieved he did not have to face crowds of fellow tourists in Athens. "We have not had to line up anywhere," Noble said.

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