European tourism hit by hard times

To anyone crammed in a water taxi on a hot August day, Venice seems as full of tourists as ever. This year many of them are speaking Italian.

Summer in Europe is traditionally a time of holiday and travel — but the continent's famous tourist destinations have a decidedly more provincial air these days.

Increasingly, Europeans are taking their holidays in their home country, a result of the recession and a problem for industries that depend on international travel, such as airlines, whose woes could be deepened if fears of a wider swine-flu outbreak materialize.

International tourism arrivals in Europe were down 10 percent in the first four months of the year. If early signs of economic recovery hold, the United Nations' World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that to improve slightly to a drop of between 5 percent and 8 percent — reflecting drops in such top destinations as France, Spain and Greece.

France, the world's No. 1 tourist destination, saw a decrease of 4 percent in foreign visitors last month, and that is expected to rise to as much as 30 percent when July and August numbers are tallied.

However, the last thing leisure-loving Europeans are going to let get in the way of their proverbial summer holidays is a little thing like the global economic crisis. And in tourist-dependent countries, officials say homegrown tourism could be a hedge against a drop in international arrivals.

"People have come to accept a holiday as part of their annual routine. They perhaps are staying closer to home," said Geoffrey Lipman, deputy secretary-general of the UNWTO.

"What they also are doing is trading down, not traveling business but economy, booking a three-star instead of a four-star package."

But even this pattern could change, the longer the downturn continues, or if there is an uptick in cases of swine flu, Lipman said.

And those uncertainties can mean tougher times ahead for the tourist industry.

Italian hoteliers say already 20 percent of jobs have been lost in the sector in January. In Greece, officials forecast the loss of some 19,000 tourism-related jobs this year.