The dollar may not go far and air travel continues to be troubling, but Americans are going to Europe in record numbers.
Nearly 13 million Americans visited Europe in 2006, a 4% increase from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Travel & Tourism Industries.
The European Travel Commission says those numbers will increase another two to three percent this year.
Some trends from the AP:
Ø Travelers are more willing than ever to take long weekends in Western Europe, says Conrad Van Triggelen, chairman of the European Travel Commission.
Ø Another trend is “combining the known and the unknown” by visiting landmarks in a major city, then heading off to the countryside, he said.
Ø “Seeing the Eiffel Tower is still a great thrill, as is going to the Vatican. But there is a subset of more sophisticated travelers yearning to see a more authentic side of Europe,” said Pauline Frommer, the travel writer and editor.
Ø In Italy, a program called agriturismo is popular. It allows travelers to “stay in a farmhouse set up for tourism and take part in the daily life and the making of particular products like cheese and wine,” according to Cosmo Frasca, spokesman for the Italian Government Tourist Board in New York.
Ø In Amsterdam, visitors can take a ferry across the Amstel River, rent a bike and “after 10 minutes, you’re in 17th- and 18th-century villages,” said Mr Van Tiggelen, who is also the Netherlands tourism director.
Ø Americans are also increasingly taking “experiential vacations,” said Peter Frank, editor of Concierge.com. “They want to engage in an activity — windsurfing in Croatia, hiking the pilgrim’s trail to Santiago de Compostela (in Spain) or taking a cookery class in Italy.”
Report by David Wilkening
