• Font Size    

Business and economic information you need to know

Business/Economy
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

South Florida Fights To Keep European Tourists

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Oct 14, 2008 5:39 pm US/Eastern

South Florida Fights To Keep European Tourists

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― South Florida tourism officials are keeping a close eye on the rocky international economy. Miami-Dade and Broward counties are both  seeing record numbers of European visitors. That's why both counties have been increasing marketing in Europe and Latin America.

Right now, U.S. vacations are a bargain for European travelers because of the weak dollar. The concern now, however, is that a tough European economy could cause vacationers to stay closer to home.

"It's kind of a universal hell," said Nikki Grossman of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitor and Convention Bureau. "You're playing a deck of cards and you don't know what the card value is."
 
Grossman does anticipate continued strength from the European markets for at least the next year and a half, while the euro remains strong.

But there are signs that international visitors are watching their money more closely.
 
Pablo Bordogna and his wife Paula are visiting Fort Lauderdale from Argentina. They're closely watching what's happening on Wall Street and back home.

"We try to spend less," Pablo told CBS4's Ted Scouten.

Beachside stores notice tourists aren't spending like they used to. "It's not like before, no, absolutely not," notices Merit Badon of the New Addition store on Fort Lauderdale Beach. She sees a lot of Europeans in her T-shirt store, but says they are more careful with their money.

To further entice cost conscious travelers, many hotels, restaurants and spas are offering on line deals.

www.sunny.org and www.miamiandbeaches.com/Index.asp are a couple of good websites to check out.

Tourism officials say "there are no fire sales," but they are watching to see if they'll have to offer special bargains, once high season arrives.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

CBS4.com Top Stories

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Local News

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.