Well, it sure looks that way.
One tourist-hungry British village is already accepting the currencies at par, hoping to attract for Irish and continental European visitors, and a financial expert quoted by the BBC recently called official parity “almost inevitable”.
The BBC story notes that at least one high-profile Forex, 100 euros will currently set you back £99.11. Sure, it’s not quite parity — but it’s close enough, right?
This is good news for European travelers interested in visiting the United Kingdom, but bad news for the Brits who love to flock to the Canaries and the beaches of Spain each winter.
It could also be bad news for continental European tourism industries.
When the Canadian dollar broke even with the US dollar (and eventually surpassed it) last fall, cross-border shoppers rejoiced. But for the Canadian travel industry, which relies for large chunks of its business on American tourists who view the Great White North as a discount holiday option, parity was nothing to cheer about.
Of course, US-Canadian parity didn’t last long, and our trusty CAD tumbled back down again this past summer. Our scenario was a blip, a product of immense American economic uncertainty on the one hand and sky-high oil prices (hurray for the tar sands?) on the other.
The Euro’s ascendancy, on the other hand, could be a longer-term reality.
What do you think?
If the European Union currency remains at par with Sterling, or even surpasses it, will the Brits consider joining the Euro-fold?
Does parity help or hinder your European travel plans?
Photo by Andrea Guerra (Creative Commons)
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6 Comments... join the discussion!
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I think the Loonie is gonna go up, up, up these next few years.
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Really? We're presently bracing ourselves for an economic apocalypse only slightly milder than the one occurring south of the 49th. After biding its time at par for a bit, the dollar's dropped right back down to where it was in the 90s – and fast, too. I've lost count of the times the Toronto Stock Exchange set a new record for one-day losses in the past couple months…
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yeah, but you guys have lots of oil and aren't crazy.
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We've had lots of oil for decades, and we currently have the craziest government (as far as I'm concerned) in Canadian history. Besides, most of the oilsands profits go straight to Texas, or wherever Exxon et al have their headquarters. We don't have our own refineries, so Big Oil extracts the crude from the tar, brings it stateside, and then sells it back to us at a profit. Of the profits we do keep, Alberta hoards as much as possible — the angry rebellious sibling in the quasi-socialist family.
I'd think better of the oilsands if they actually did more good for the Canadian people as a whole, but instead, they're not only a hugely destructive resource, they're also not a terribly giving one.
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"…and aren't crazy." Ha! You make a good point
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