COVER STORY
They're taking off in record numbers, and Europe is the big bonanza
They are returning this summer not with bombs or bands, as they have in the past, but quietly and assuredly, like friends of the family. American tourists, who were driven from Europe by the dollar devaluations and the oil embargo of the early 1970s, are finding their way back in force. From Sicily to Skye and Positano to the Parthenon, the accents of Dixie and down East can be heard again in the pubs and bistros and trattorie, in cathedrals, castles, stately homes, museums, opera houses and a million stores.
The exodus is evident throughout the U.S. Airline and travel-agency telephones have been buzz busy since early spring. Airports are crowded not only with departing tourists but with the homecomers as well, who often face wearisome waits for Customs clearance. Even cab drivers, taking Europe-bound passengers to the airport, share details of the trips they have already made this year or plan to. Owners of French and Italian restaurants find that many of their patrons have deserted them for restaurants in France and Italy; Los Angeles Restaurateur Paul Bruggemans, eyeing his semi-deserted Le St. Germain, says, "Europe is the big bonanza." "We are seeing a tremendous bounce back of vacations in Europe," says Richard Roberts-Miller, president of Chicago-based Thomson Vacations, a big worldwide tour operator. "Those who haven't traveled for a couple of years are going on a binge, and the market is going through the roof."
The Yanks are coming with cameras and phrase books and something new: pocket calculators, which have become essential for translating the volatile currencies of Europe into dollars. The dollar, as everyone knows, has never been lustier abroad,* and Americans are in the mood to spend. To encourage them, European Travel Commission ads across the U.S. proclaim: EUROPE! THE GRANDEST HOLIDAY OF ALL. NOW MORE AFFORDABLE THAN EVER. The Paris daily Le Figaro scolds the mother country for not wooing the American dollar more actively this summer and urges with a wiggle: "The objective in 1984 is to seduce the Americans." The Americans can't seem to wait.
Some 4.2 million U.S. visitors are expected in Europe this year, and that's a record. It is not only the robust buck that propels this amicable invasion. Most goods and services in Europe come cheaper this summer because many governments have devalued their currencies. In addition, Americans appear to have increasing faith in their economy. For example, schoolteachers, who traditionally account for an important part of Arthur Frommer Holidays business, are traveling in large numbers again. Connie Sykes, Frommer's general manager, explains: "Either they've decided they will continue to be employed or they've decided to stop worrying about it."