Economic cloud rains on Europeans' vacations

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,7301363.story


Economic cloud rains on Europeans' vacations

Amid money worries, those who normally take the entire month off are finding
it a cruel summer

By Angela Doland | Associated Press

10:44 PM CDT, August 23, 2008

"PARIS - It's the Paris version of the "staycation": Marc des Bouillons
lounged in a beach chair with a book, surrounded by women in bikinis, ice
cream stands, a DJ spinning summer tunes and kids running amok.

Sounds like vacation, but it was just an evening after work at a makeshift
beach on the banks of the Seine-a pale substitute for a real beach holiday,
the best many Parisians can do in these troubled economic times.

The European summer vacation just isn't what it used to be. With economies
stagnating and inflation in the euro zone about 4 percent, people are
cutting the length of their holiday stay, vacationing close by and, in some
cases, just staying home.

Des Bouillons, a 43-year-old accountant, is forgoing one of France's
sacrosanct rituals: The great August lull in which the country shuts down
for the entire month, turning cities into ghost towns as the masses hit the
beaches or country retreats.

He intends to work through August so he can go away off-season once prices
drop. "I have to be careful about my budget," des Bouillons said.

Across the continent, Europeans are sharing des Bouillons' pain.

The deepening economic malaise has made many wary of splurging on expensive
breaks. And would-be travelers have been hit by soaring costs in Europe for
food, road trips and air travel - in short, just about everything needed for
a successful holiday. Gasoline, for example, is the equivalent of $8 a
gallon in France, and the fuel surcharge on a round-trip long-haul Air
France flight is as much as $418.

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In Spain, another country that traditionally shuts down in August, travel
agency Marsans has been luring customers by giving away flat-screen TVs with
travel packages costing more than $2,320.

Some European leaders have shown restraint so as not to shock their
countrymen with scenes of living it up during the economic downturn. British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown opted for a quiet holiday in the countryside.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, nicknamed the "bling-bling president" for
his penchant for borrowing private jets and yachts, took an ordinary airline
flight to his wife Carla's Mediterranean villa.

France's main hospitality and catering union said in a report last week that
hotel occupancy is holding steady. But it said there was a 20 to 30 percent
drop in customers at cafes and restaurants.

Surveys indicated that more people were skipping vacations altogether.

"We have found that more customers than ever before want to jump in a car
with the family and avoid the hassle and increased costs of an overseas
break," said Richard Carrick, chief executive of Hoseasons, a British travel
company.

Germany seems to be an exception, with the tourism industry remaining
stable, although experts are keeping an eye on the international economy.
German plane travel, tour operations and hotel reservations continued in an
upward trend in the early summer months, according to industry reports.

Some European travelers have taken advantage of the weak dollar and headed
to the United States.

In the Netherlands as of early July, trips within Europe and Asia were
slightly down, but bookings to the United States were up 49 percent from a
year ago, said AVNR, a travel agencies industry group..".

/

Martin wrote:

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:10:00 -0500, "Gregory Morrow"
wrote:



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...mmer_08aug24,0,
7301363.story


Economic cloud rains on Europeans' vacations

Amid money worries, those who normally take the entire month off are
finding
it a cruel summer

By Angela Doland | Associated Press

10:44 PM CDT, August 23, 2008

"PARIS - It's the Paris version of the "staycation": Marc des Bouillons
lounged in a beach chair with a book, surrounded by women in bikinis, ice
cream stands, a DJ spinning summer tunes and kids running amok.

Magda's idea of paradise.


Lol...especially the "kids running amok" bit.


--
Best
Greg

In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

Alfred Molon:
In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.

Great to see that tourists generally haven't discovered Lower Saxony as a
vacation location.
Terrific ice cream in Nordhorn for 50-60 cents a Scoop. Yup, capital 'S'.
Please, stay away and don't increase demand.

--
Erick

"Some see the glass as half-empty, some see the glass as half-full. I see
the glass as too big" - George Carlin

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings
or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.

This is the normal price in the UK, and IME in airports all around the
world.

Yet there are still a queue of people buying.

tim

Poor morrow, condemned to live between his computer shack and the local
sexshop...

"Gregory Morrow" a écrit dans
le message de m...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,7301363.story


Economic cloud rains on Europeans' vacations

Amid money worries, those who normally take the entire month off are
finding
it a cruel summer

By Angela Doland | Associated Press

10:44 PM CDT, August 23, 2008

"PARIS - It's the Paris version of the "staycation": Marc des Bouillons
lounged in a beach chair with a book, surrounded by women in bikinis, ice
cream stands, a DJ spinning summer tunes and kids running amok.

Sounds like vacation, but it was just an evening after work at a makeshift
beach on the banks of the Seine-a pale substitute for a real beach
holiday,
the best many Parisians can do in these troubled economic times.

The European summer vacation just isn't what it used to be. With economies
stagnating and inflation in the euro zone about 4 percent, people are
cutting the length of their holiday stay, vacationing close by and, in
some
cases, just staying home.

Des Bouillons, a 43-year-old accountant, is forgoing one of France's
sacrosanct rituals: The great August lull in which the country shuts down
for the entire month, turning cities into ghost towns as the masses hit
the
beaches or country retreats.

He intends to work through August so he can go away off-season once prices
drop. "I have to be careful about my budget," des Bouillons said.

Across the continent, Europeans are sharing des Bouillons' pain.

The deepening economic malaise has made many wary of splurging on
expensive
breaks. And would-be travelers have been hit by soaring costs in Europe
for
food, road trips and air travel - in short, just about everything needed
for
a successful holiday. Gasoline, for example, is the equivalent of $8 a
gallon in France, and the fuel surcharge on a round-trip long-haul Air
France flight is as much as $418.

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings
or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In Spain, another country that traditionally shuts down in August, travel
agency Marsans has been luring customers by giving away flat-screen TVs
with
travel packages costing more than $2,320.

Some European leaders have shown restraint so as not to shock their
countrymen with scenes of living it up during the economic downturn.
British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown opted for a quiet holiday in the countryside.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, nicknamed the "bling-bling president"
for
his penchant for borrowing private jets and yachts, took an ordinary
airline
flight to his wife Carla's Mediterranean villa.

France's main hospitality and catering union said in a report last week
that
hotel occupancy is holding steady. But it said there was a 20 to 30
percent
drop in customers at cafes and restaurants.

Surveys indicated that more people were skipping vacations altogether.

"We have found that more customers than ever before want to jump in a car
with the family and avoid the hassle and increased costs of an overseas
break," said Richard Carrick, chief executive of Hoseasons, a British
travel
company.

Germany seems to be an exception, with the tourism industry remaining
stable, although experts are keeping an eye on the international economy.
German plane travel, tour operations and hotel reservations continued in
an
upward trend in the early summer months, according to industry reports.

Some European travelers have taken advantage of the weak dollar and headed
to the United States.

In the Netherlands as of early July, trips within Europe and Asia were
slightly down, but bookings to the United States were up 49 percent from a
year ago, said AVNR, a travel agencies industry group..".

/

morrow doesn't know, he doesn't travel.

"tim....." a écrit dans le message de
...

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller
servings or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.

This is the normal price in the UK, and IME in airports all around the
world.

Yet there are still a queue of people buying.

tim

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:45:29 +0100, tim..... wrote
(in article ):


"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings
or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.

This is the normal price in the UK, and IME in airports all around the
world.

Yet there are still a queue of people buying.

This is presumably for the same disgusting stuff that is sold from
vans making their hideous noise all over the country during the long
summer evenings


--
Mike Lane (UK North Yorkshire)
To contact me replace invalid with mike underscore lane

"Alfred Molon" kirjoitti
s.com...
In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings
or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.
--
I guess I recently told in this group that a cup of coffee in average costs
seven (7) euros at a Moscovite cafe while it costs four euros in ultra
expensive Paris and some two euros in New York.

In article , tim..... says...

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
In article , Gregory
Morrow says...

In Italy, even gelato, the typical holiday treat, is taking a hit. Rome
vendor Giuseppe De Angelis says customers have asked for smaller servings
or
family discounts since he had to raise prices by $1.50 a cone because of
soaring milk and fruit costs.

In France, prices for ice cream are just ridicolous - two to three Euro
for a cone with one scoop of ice cream.

This is the normal price in the UK, and IME in airports all around the
world.

I forgot to mention that the quality of the ice cream in France is poor.
In most places we visited we saw that the ice cream was refrozen. By
contrast, yesterday I had an excellent hazelnuts ice cream in a shopping
complex here in Munich for 90 cents.

Yet there are still a queue of people buying.

Some people really know no better. Maybe it's a market opportunity to
set up ice cream stalls in the UK selling good ice cream for 1.50 Euro a
scoop.
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe