Has the Euro killed tourism

[mijasgolf]

How many people on here think the Euro has effected tourism in Andalucia

[Grouser]

Money is a tool. The easier it is to use a tool the better. The more universal the currency the more efficient the tool. How I wish the UK had bitten the bullet and adopted the euro.

[JAKE M]

For me, the euro is still foreign money, so when we come out to our house, the different currency still gives an "on holiday" feel to it. If the UK goes euro that feeling will be lost so I don't think tourism is affected as yet. Anyway, pounds,euros,yen all buy the holiday necessities!

[katy]

The advantage of the euro is that for other countries (obviously not the UK) in the zone, it is possible to do an exact costing. The euro has had an effect on German tourists visiting and buying property in Spain because they suddenly realised that like for like many things were more costly here than in Germany, therefore, less Germans visiting/buying, likewise the Dutch. It is much easier to make the comparison. eg. I know that many things in France and the Netherlands are cheaper than here, not so easy to compare in the UK when the fluctuating exchange rate obscures the true costs.

Would be great to have a global currency, food and drink products are going that way. Many times it would be impossible to guess which country you are in at coastal resorts. I notice here that it is possible to buy Oreos and golden Grahams, I remember these from living in the USA.

[masterob]

If tourism has been greatly affected, and I´m not so sure it has, then it is more likely to be because of the opportunities these days to travel further afield rather than the introduction of the Euro! Tourism from the UK has changed in so far as people are no longer totally reliant on Travel Agents and their Package-type holidays. The Internet enables people to make their own independent arrangements, booking flights, hire cars, hotels etc directly. Also the growth of holiday homes affects hotel bookings which has been the traditional marker for the number of tourists.
Tourism to places further afield such the USA, Australia etc is not hampered by their separate currencies so why should the Euro (which has been around for a while now) have any effect on Spanish tourism?

[rymanskid]

Money is money where ever you are its about time Britain joined the euro but then as you will be able to compare costs more easily with the rest of europe it wil show you what a rip off Britain has become.

[Faire d'Income]

Money is money where ever you are its about time Britain joined the euro but then as you will be able to compare costs more easily with the rest of europe it wil show you what a rip off Britain has become.

Why should the UK join the Eurozone? The UK's economy is drastically different to other economies in the Eurozone and it would have had a negative impact on GDP and general growth in the last few years. The UK is the largets non-protectionist, free market economy in the world and its about time you Poms started realising it, alongside the benefits that it brings.

As for rip off Britain - rubbish. There are plenty of examples of where its far cheaper to buy products in the UK. Look at the scope for cheap finance, cars and IT equipment - try buying those in other parts of Europe and it'll make your eyes water.

The UK, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and the majority of the recently aligned Baltic states aren't in the €uro so what happens when you travel to those countries?

The example of German buyers in the Spanish housing market owes more to the change it tax rules, which resulted in many of them selling up so in that instance the €uro actually had no effect whatsoever.

[pete_l]

Why should the UK join the Eurozone?

Well for a start, people would be able to get mortgages at european rates.
So they'd be paying about 3.75% compared with 6-7.5% in the UK. Whether
that would just lead to an upsurge in house prices is anybody's guess.
However, the reduced interest rates would also help industry invest more
and therefore take on more people and make more money (so higher
profits for their shareholders - i.e. your pension fund & tax income for the
govt.)

On the downside, we'd have to replace the £ symbol on our keyboards.

[katy]

Eurozone hasn't performed as well as the UK over the past 5 or more years. Also if you have savings you are lucky to get 3% with the euro. Don't know a lot about mortgage rates in Spain but I think they are higher than your figure? Always reading the euribor is going up!

[Beachcomber]

I hope the UK does not adopt the euro.

I make quite a tidy amount of pocket money by swapping funds between my euro and sterling bank accounts at optimum moments.

[Faire d'Income]

Why should the UK join the Eurozone?

Well for a start, people would be able to get mortgages at european rates.
So they'd be paying about 3.75% compared with 6-7.5% in the UK. Whether
that would just lead to an upsurge in house prices is anybody's guess.
However, the reduced interest rates would also help industry invest more
and therefore take on more people and make more money (so higher
profits for their shareholders - i.e. your pension fund & tax income for the
govt.)

On the downside, we'd have to replace the £ symbol on our keyboards.

The Euribor rate is around 4.4% last time I checked and is likely to be raised to 4.5% this year and as interest rates are rising world wide, its all relative.

Its also far cheaper to raise finance in the UK than it is in Spain. Apart from which, the higher interest rates in the UK has led to an influx of foreign capital, hence the strength of sterling.

[pigs-might-fly]

My head says "Join the Euro" UK, (I live in Spain), my heart says" Keep out of the whole ungodly E.U. mess entirely"!

[citymike]

Why should the UK join the Eurozone? The UK's economy is drastically different to other economies in the Eurozone and it would have had a negative impact on GDP and general growth in the last few years. The UK is the largets non-protectionist, free market economy in the world and its about time you Poms started realising it, alongside the benefits that it brings.

The problem is that Spain is drastically different to other economies in the eurozone too. The Germans have a great fear of inflation, it has wiped out their middle class on a couple of occasions in the twentieth century. Their economy is now growing strongly and to prevent overheating they require increased interest rates. Spain's economy is built largely on construction which seems to be faltering as interest rates take their toll.

So what is the ECB to do? Raise rates to please Germany or keep them on hold to please Spain. Whatever they choose is going to be painful to one country and my gut feeling is that they will favour Germany. That could lead to countries like Spain and Ireland having to leave the euro to save its economy.

Now wouldn't that be fun? Us joining just as everyone else is leaving!!

[elkimbodude]

I find it funny how must posts and questions turn out in Real estate answers... its clear that in Andalucia all is based on construction and real estate (and also restaurants lol, there bloody everywhere !), but to get back to the question regarding euro and not from a real estate perspective...

I have lived here on the coast for over 16 years now, and I must admit, although it looks busy in certain areas, tourism has died out abit, I have never seen so few people in the towns like marbella, fuengirola, benal en torrem... Im not saying the euro is the reason of this, but I do hear many english people complain that when things were still in the good old peseta, they used to come down because it was cheap and they could bring allong the kids for a good holiday at the beach etc... a cofee would like be 80 to 120 pesetas, now its like 1.5 to 2 euros. Okay, you used to get the cofee thrown at you on the table by a spanjard without a thanks or anything, but it was cheap so who cares and lets enjoy, but now you get it thrown at you and the Englishman starts to realise he actually paid normal/average money for that so it would be some kind of courtasy to have it nicely presented. Anyways, other things like every day scams like the marbella townhall and frauds going on, doesent give our good old sunny coast a good rep like we used to have. Its a shame how the whole tourism/holiday industry collapsed a bit and the question is not really whether the euro is having an effect on people, but whether it is having an effect on the costa del sol and the answer would be certainly yes. Many of my friends are now looking to places like Greece, Hungaria, Yuguslavia and all these other new countries that came into the European Union to spend there hard deserved Euros and get some value for money back. (holiday wise !).

Ofcourse, I love the coast and all its small special areas were you can still enjoy things, but lets hope to keep it that way.

[katy]

Many Spanish seem to have difficulty using the euro. Even the large co's. utilities etc give the peseta conversion at the side. When I ask the Gardener how much I owe him he adds the hourly rate up in pesetas and then converts it to Euros.

Spain seems cheaper to some Brits because the exchange rate fudges it but to germans, Dutch etc. they have a straight comparison and they have realised in euro terms how expensive Spain has become.

[laclotte]

Gardener how much I owe him he adds the hourly rate up in pesetas and then converts it to Euros.

Hmmmmm...............he sounds more like an accountant than a gardener
I still believe that the 'older' Spanish will never think/relate to Euros.
In France we still have village people who relate everything to the 'million' old francs...even the 'new' franc, (some 30 years old!!) that disappeared with the introduction of the Euro does not warrant a mention
My shocked look when a price is mentioned is normally enough for them to mention that it is the 'old' franc.