MSNBC reports that last year, American tourism was down 40% versus a decade ago. Worse, the Paris tourism office says 2009 traffic was down another 3.4% versus the prior year.

Surprisingly, while we only read of a double-dip recession, French tourism officials expect that Americans will be coming back “as the the U.S. economy improves. I have no doubt they are correct, but I don’t thing that will mean in 2011.

Americans remains the most frequent foreign visitors to Paris. We still see a lot of our countrymen in the streets, but maybe because we are right in the 6th most of the time near high-traffic areas. More striking are the number of Asian visitors, especially from China and India, which in itself is symbolic of where economic dynamism is these days.

American tourists expected to return to Paris

The “soldes” are here!

Starting Jan. 7, storming the barricades will take on a whole new meaning in Paris.

That marks opening day of this year’s winter “soldes” (sales), five weeks of frenzied bargain-hunting for the perfect Azzaro cocktail dress or the normally unaffordable monogrammed Noël bed linen — at between 30 and 70 percent off.

[From Globespotters - Paris Goes on Sale - NYTimes.com]

It’s been a long, long time since anyone told an American that “it’s like Paris is on sale,” as they did in the eighties. Even with the recent temporary drop in the Euro, no one said sale. They just said less “pénible.”

Sales occur in Paris, of course, year around, but under French law, retail stores can only run public sales with big “SOLDES” banners only for several weeks in January and July.

The New York Times offers this added advice for the Paris sales:

• arrive early; don’t shop with a parent, spouse or child; eat a hearty breakfast; wear loose clothing and sensible shoes.
• Negotiate the hotel rate. Even discounted prices can come down.
• Think French. The lowest price isn’t always the best deal. Buy one glorious luxury item that will last forever.
• Pre-shop the sales. Do a dry run and check out the layout of the stores and the merchandise before sales day.
• Sweet talk the clerks. With charm and some good luck, you may be able to persuade the sales person to extend you the discount on the eve of the sales, or at least to set the longed-for item aside.

Happy shopping (as if as an American, you actually have any cash left to spend)!

With all the turmoil in the markets, there are so many surprises. Oil is down in the $70s risking to lull us again into energy complacency, and now the dollar is rising against the Euro. Or maybe we should say the Euro is falling. My economist friends tell me this is due to one currency/many governments model they have to deal with. While Europeans have jumped in to address their financial markets issues more aggressively than the US, they have no central authority to target shoot the trouble areas. And any one country not stabilizing its own banks runs the risk of unwittingly being the weak link for the Euro as a whole.

As an American, do I want the Euro a lot weaker? Good question and I’m not smart enough to know the answer. I certainly know how I feel as a tourist with tickets to Paris on November 20.

[From Exchange Rates Graph (American Dollar, Euro)]