Weaker Euro = Fewer Foreign Visitors

A quarter of Seattle's tourism dollars come from international visitors, and the strong dollar seems to be keeping them at home. So here's an interesting take on the downturn: fewer of those (funny-lookin, funny-talkin) furriners coming to our shores...except it's not funny. We miss 'em.

Tourism is big business for Washington State, more than one might expect: $5.4 billion dollars a year for King County alone. Hotels, restaurants and retail shopping account for $1.5 billion apiece the rest is dividied between local transportation, entertainment and groceries.) That works out to a cool $4 million a day in restaurant revenues, just for openers, so when visitors go away, so do entire restaurants. Almost a quarter of those dollars come from international visitors, twice as much as business travelers spend, four times as much as conventioneers. And when the euro buys fewer and fewer greenbacks, that number drops dramatically.

Part of the drop in visitors is undoubtedly the world-wide economic downturn, but another significant factor is the strong dollar. Against the euro, the dollar is up by 17 percent since the beginning of the year.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the shifting exchange rate; from Italian fashions to left-bank bistros, European goods and services would be less expensive (in dollars), even as airplanes and other American hard goods become more costly (in euros).

Some of the local evidence is indisputable: international arrivals at SeaTac were down five percent in April. Some is anecdotal: Sunday brunch cruises on the Argosy ships, for instance, which would regularly sell out during the tourist season, are leaving the dock half full, if they leave at all.

One exception: the Space Needle, a must-see destination regardless of the economy, where all the numbers (guests, check average) are up. Also on the plus side: the 50-odd additional cruise ships coming to call in the 2010 season.

David Blandford of the Seattle Convention & Visitor Bureau (the folks who dubbed Seattle "Metronatural"), says it's too early to tell how much international tourism is down this year, if at all. Last year's drop (four percent fewer visitors nationally, a six percent drop in expenditures) may not carry forward. Still, Blandford cautions that there may be reasons beyond the stronger euro keeping visitors away. "Volcanoes and air fares, for example."

Just for comparison: France. Despite a six percent downturn in 2009, France remains the world's number one travel destination with 74 million visitors. Only four percent of them, 3.2 million, were Americans, by the way. Says Jean-Philippe Perol, who runs Atout France, the French Tourism Development Agency for the Americas, "If the exchange stays around $1.20 to the euro, we expect that results for American travel to France this year will be up 4 to percent."