14/08/2017 06:19 AST
Toshi Sugiyura and his wife Naka had a pleasant surprise awaiting them in San Francisco when the couple arrived from Japan on an anniversary trip, thanks to the US dollar’s months-long slide against the yen.
The 37-year-old business owner from Nagoya said the stronger yen gave them more dollars to buy gifts for their children.
“If the dollar keeps going down, maybe we’ll go to Hawaii,” added Naka Sugiyura, 41.
The dollar’s declining value this year is giving foreign visitors like the Sugiyuras unexpected purchasing power and will likely increase how much they spend on their holidays, travel experts said.
Solid gains by the euro, British pound, Chinese yuan and other major currencies against the dollar since the start of this year have been too recent to affect most travel decisions. Tourists typically lock in vacations months or even years ahead of time, experts said.
But travellers who had already booked for this summer are finding their home currencies are stretching further than six months ago. “We could see more spending by those who already planned to come,” said economist Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics in Philadelphia.
Brian Yong, a 45-year-old information technology engineer from Shanghai, said the yuan-friendly exchange rate made his two-week stay in San Francisco a better bargain and would let him to do more shopping.
“Lots of Chinese come here because of the exchange rate,” Yong said.
Foreign visitors make a big contribution to the US economy, with 75.6mn of them spending $244.7bn last year, the Commerce Department said.
Foreigners spent nearly $84bn more than Americans spent in other countries.
In New York City, by far the most popular US destination for foreigners, officials hope stronger foreign currencies will translate into extra dollars for shopping, even if only at the margins.
“It could be the difference between buying an extra pair of shoes or not, is what it comes down to,” said Chris Heywood, spokesman for the city’s tourism agency, NYC & Company.
Since the beginning of the year, the dollar has lost 9 to 13% of its value against the euro, Mexican peso and Australian dollar.
It has weakened more modestly against the British pound, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, Brazilian real and Canadian dollar.
The trend means that a $300 hotel room, for example, would now cost a European about €256, as opposed to €285 in early January.
That said, the “feel good” factor is often subjective and currency-specific. “I’ve noticed the euro has been getting stronger but it seems like it was stronger when I was here almost seven years ago,” said Vera, a 25-year-old from Cologne, Germany, who is spending the summer in New York and declined to give her surname. In fact, the euro was stronger seven years ago.
It has lost about 14% of its value against the dollar since October 1, 2010, despite its rise since January.
Regardless, Vera said she had spent more money on jeans than she anticipated, “because clothes are so much cheaper here.”
Although foreign travellers make up only one in five of New York’s visitors, they accounted for about half of the $43bn the city reaped from visitors in 2016, Heywood said.
“The international visitor stays longer and spends more when they’re here,” he added.
Mauro Antico, 49, of Turin, Italy, said he planned his week-long visit to New York with his family four months ago without regard to the exchange rate, but was pleasantly surprised by the savings after he arrived.
“We are planning to buy many things,” he said.
Gulf Times
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