Tourist Slump

American tourists have been going to Europe at a steadily rising rate since World War II, but this year for the first time the rate is dipping. Eastbound steamship bookings are down 6.8% from 1960; Cunard Line (the Queens Mary and Elizabeth) advertised cabin-class accommodations still available as of last week. And although transatlantic airlines are actually carrying more people abroad, the load rate is averaging only 50% because the big new jets have increased seating capacity.

Whatever the numerous reasons for the fall-off--world tensions, recession, eagerness to visit Asian or other off-beat tourist spots--the fact is that the once-favored European gathering places for Americans are getting fewer dollars. In Paris' Lido cabaret, which last year turned away people by the hundreds every night, any customer can get a table now. Luxury hotels such as the Ritz, George V, Crillon and Plaza Athenee have dropped 15% in American bookings, and some of the lesser hotels are off 50% to 60%. The big travel agencies, American Express and Cooks, report car rentals down 10% and conducted tours off 25%.

First sign of the dip in England came in May, when American tourism dropped 10%. Car rentals have slowed 20%. The Savoy reported that while its clerks are still turning down applications for rooms this year, the application rate is much lower. In Stockholm, hotels got their expected tourist increase not from Americans but from Finns, and Copenhagen travel agencies are getting a higher-than-usual rate of cancellations (as high as 20%). In Italy, hotel and tour cancellations from Americans are running anywhere from 10% to 35% ahead of last year.

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