[Main economic poster at
LiberalStreetfighter]
Today, it is the foreign-tourism industry that heads slowly down the tubes. Again largely courtesy of our national management. As it is still being made to politically give-give-give to... that same national management.
Now, you'd kinda think that a dollar that is deliberately 30 percent down against almost everybody except the Mexicans and the Chinese would really have the tourists and the foreign shoppers here in record hordes. Right?
Well, NYC does seem about as crowded as ever. But it seems the hotels are not fully full and several of them, including the great Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, are slated to be converted to those great investments known as condominiums.
Obviously, the hotels are hurting. But also, its the airlines, the coach operators, the restaurants, the East Coast, the West Coast, even some great places in between... and of course the (ha ha) Mighty Dollar.
Maybe things are different in your neck of the woods? Perhaps they are all over there rather than where they are clearly meant to be: over here?
Seems unlikely. Here is the Financial Times's take by Amy Yew on the American tourism value equation. This time, it is not a subscription article, so you can read the figures in the original.
The US is losing billions of dollars as international tourists are deterred from visiting the US because of a tarnished image overseas and more bureaucratic visa policies, travel industry leaders have warned.
"It's an economic imperative to address these problems," said Roger Dow, chief executive of the Travel Industry Association of America..... Mr Dow stressed that tourism contributed to a positive perception of the US, which spread across to business. "If we don't address these issues in tourism, the long-term impact for American brands Coca-Cola, General Motors, McDonald's could be very damaging," he said.
The plea echoed that of other industry trade organisations which say bureaucratic visa procedures and stringent security after the September 11 terrorist attacks have deterred business travellers and foreign students. "The idea has gotten out that we've pulled in the welcome mat," said Rick Webster, the association's director of government affairs.
You will find some figures in the piece that flesh out the problem. The bottom line that seems impossible to spin is this: foreign tourism is down by 5 million a year.
Mr Dow said rising anti-Americanism has created a feeling that the US is inhospitable and difficult to visit. "There's a perception of `Fortress America' that is much worse than it really is," he said. Mr Dow added that more competition from other destinations such as Australia, South Africa, Spain and Asia had siphoned off tourism to the US. The TIA urged US policymakers to facilitate various security measures. An October 26 deadline that requires some foreign passports to have biometric facial-recognition technology is unrealistic and must be extended, according to the TIA.
In a nutshell, that's the AMERICAN tourism value equation. So maybe all tourism everywhere is shedding value too? Let's turn to Bloomberg News for a take on the GLOBAL tourism value equation.
Global tourism rose in 2004 at the fastest pace in 20 years, the World Tourism Organization said in January. The number of people visiting another country climbed 10 percent in 2004, and tourist visits will probably gain about 5 percent this year, the organization said.
In London, where Millennium has hotels in the upmarket neighborhoods of Knightsbridge, Kensington and Mayfair, luxury hotels generated 13 percent more revenue last year, a survey carried out by the Daily Bench showed in January.
The revival in demand helped InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, the world's largest hotelier, post a 51 percent increase in full-year profit in March. Also that month, Shangri-La Asia Ltd., the largest operator of luxury hotels in the Asia Pacific, reported an 8.5 percent gain in second-half profit.
Hong Kong had a record 21.8 million visitors in 2004, up 41 percent from a year earlier, after China made it easier for mainlanders to visit. The city's tourism board forecasts the number of visitors will rise 5 percent to 22.9 million this year, attracted by Hong Kong Disneyland, which is due to open Sept. 12.
Pretty bad for the US. But a coupla glimmers of light there! InterContintal and Hong Kong Disneyland. Good ol Disney!!! Except, of course, for this development, described by the Washington Post:
LOS ANGELES -- Two key dissidents of The Walt Disney Co. on Monday sued the company, alleging members of its board of directors made false statements to shareholders about the search for a successor to CEO Michael Eisner.
In the lawsuit, filed in Delaware Chancery court, Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold are asking the court to void the election of the Disney directors, force another election and disclose all of the details of how they selected a new chief executive.
Now that's a COMPANY level value equation. So, overall, when not worrying about Social Security in mid-century, how do you think we are doing with our various value equations?