Weak Dollar Brings Tourist Shoppers to City's Stores
Walking through major Manhattan department stores, Europe is in the air: British, German, and French accents are everywhere. In growing numbers, European tourists are traveling to New York to shop, because a weaker U.S. dollar means their euros and pounds go much further here than they would at home.
Don Emmert / Getty
BARGAIN HUNTING. Tourists carry shopping bags through Times Square this summer. The weaker dollar has drawn foreigners to the city.
"America is on sale right now," a spokeswoman for 12 Marriott hotels in New York City, Kathleen Duffy, said. "We are absolutely seeing an increase in international travelers at our area hotels taking advantage of shopping opportunities."
The dollar has been weakening for more than a year, and last week, when the Federal Reserve cut its key rate by half a percentage point, the situation was exacerbated. The greenback is now at a record low: the euro, at more than $1.40, is the strongest it has ever been against the dollar, and for the first time since 1975 the Loonie has the same strength as the dollar.
While a soft dollar spells trouble for several sectors of the economy, New York City's travel, real estate, and manufacturing sectors — which profit from the sale of services to foreigners — will likely benefit.
A weak dollar "makes the city a more attractive and economic place to visit," the communications director at New York City's Independent Budget Office, Doug Turetsky, said.
Travel agents are already seeing an increase in demand from foreign travelers to New York. The travel site Cheapflights.com has seen a 38% surge in searches for deals to America in July compared with a year ago.
"New York is consistently the number one destination searched for on our UK site CheapFlights.co.uk," the general manager of the Cheapflights.co.uk, Francesca Ecsery, said in a statement.
As would be expected, fewer Americans are looking to go abroad, where their dollars are worth less. CheapFlights.com found in its report that travel to London dropped in July to 15th place from seventh a year ago.
"London's lower destination ranking demonstrates the significant effect of the dollar's weakness," Ms. Ecsery said.
"Visitors come to New York City now, and should hurry while it is a bargain, because it will probably not last," the head of marketing and communications for NYC & Co., Kimberly Spell, said.
