Italy is hot right now for Americans, and the proof is in the numbers.
As the American dollars continues to rise and as the easing of pandemic border restrictions boosts traveler confidence, American tourists continue to flock to Rome. This helps the town enjoy a late season tourism boom. A dollar is currently worth just over a euro, around 17% more than a year ago. This is the highest dollar-to-euro exchange rate in over 20 years. For Americans visiting Italyit’s a godsend – vacation budgets stretch further and there’s more money to splurge on food and shopping while they’re here.
How the strong dollar is helping bring American tourists back to Rome after the pandemic.
For Madison, a Georgian student in the United States, the favorable currency fluctuation helps reduce some of the most adverse expenses of traveling student, such as the price of hostel rooms and restaurants. At the end of the summer, she withdrew a large batch of euros from her bank in the United States before leaving to study on exchange at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. This helped her secure a good deal for her weekend trips to Europe during the semester. “It was very favorable” – she says – “I didn’t have to worry so much and I saved money, especially in restaurants in Rome where it seems that prices have gone up a lot since my last visit. the dollar started to recover earlier this year while the Federal Reserve in the United States raised interest rates faster than other major countries in an effort to contain inflation. At the same time, Americans quickly understood the value of traveling across the Atlantic. Travel sales from the United States to Europe increased by 113% between May and July, according to Skifta travel industry news site, unlike Europe-US bookings which grew by only 43%. Laura Capitani is a luxury travel consultant at Protravel International, based in Beverly Hills, Calif. She helps her clients book high-end vacations and experiences around the world, from adventures in Patagonia to week-long stays in Renaissance villas in Tuscany. “We have never been busier than this year and we are preparing for a repeat next year,” she says. “Italy alongside France is at the top of our client list.”
The surge comes as Americans seek to reconnect, explore new destinations and simply escape the confines of their post-pandemic homes.
Nonetheless, Capitani finds that once his customers arrive in Italy, they take advantage of the favorable exchange rate by splurging on designer goods and high-end restaurants. A report published in August by the association of Italian retailers Comfcommercio predicted that American tourists would bring 2.1 billion euros to Italy between July and September, 20% more than during the same period in 2019. For the tourism and hospitality sector, this is good news . The pandemic left these industries in tatters in 2020. However, in October hotel occupancy was 90% all month, above the national average and pushing profitability beyond levels seen in 2019, according to a recent speech by Rome tourism adviser Alessandro Onorato.This is undoubtedly reassuring news for businesses facing rising energy bills and the prospect of further economic gloom this winter.In what appears to be another vote of confidence for the sector, a number of luxury hotels in Rome are planning to open their doors in the capital in the near future. Hotel Bulgari Rome will open in 2023 in the Campo Marzio district, and they will be joined by other high-end international brands, such as Six Senses and Nobu hotels. The Four Seasons will arrive in 2024. These hotels are expected to create more than 4,000 new jobs in the capital. It looks like Rome’s hospitality and tourism sector is on the rise again.
Currency fluctuations are notoriously difficult to predict, and with interest rates starting to rise in Europe as well, deals might not last forever.
Still, with hotels offering prepaid rate options for 2023, for those with the cash to burn, it’s not too early to pre-book and take advantage of today’s vacation rate. next year’s Romans.
In the meantime, the capital’s tourism-dependent businesses will breathe a sigh of relief as the late-season tourist boom brings some much-needed extra revenue ahead of what will be a tough winter.Charles Seymour
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