With fewer Americans able to afford travel this year, due to our economy, Ireland's
tourism has dealt a blow and I'm hearing the effects -- from last-minute availability to hotels trying to renegotiate my group rates. The time is ripe for travel to Ireland again...
The U.S. Has Sneezed!
My friends have often told me, "When the U.S. sneezes, Europe catches a cold" but I have always been a humble American, not realizing just how important our economy is to the rest of the World. Sure, we hear about our imports exceeding our exports and how pretty much all of the World is unhappy with our current President, as opposed to Americans in general... but through it all, despite our lows -- our country is quite influential on the World economies.
The U.S. has more than a cold, perhaps the flu, and the rest of the world is slowly
catching on. I've talked to friends both on the phone and via email to tell me that the unemployment rate has risen for the fifth straight month and that tourist are far and few between to visit another friend's art gallery. It's distressing to hear this, knowing that the hardest part has yet to come and we're not even sure if we've seen the worst here at home.
Cancelling one of my October tours due to lack of interst, I was met with more than one hotel that wanted to give me lower rates! This is new to me as rates have always gone UP in the past. Unfortunately I didn't have enough registered on this particular trip to ensure it would break even that I had to cancel anyway.
Fall Is Perfect Travel Time
Seeing the indicators that prices are falling in Ireland, the fall will be a prime time to travel as the shoulder and off season begin to take hold.
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