The upside of Florida’s rising cost

In both the United Kingdom and the United States, travel projections for this summer point to people staying closer to home for their holidays. In the southern American state of Florida, industry insiders say the region could be able to capitalize on the fact that Florida residents are likely to stick around. Another possibility is that Americans form other states that had planned to travel abroad may choose to travel to Florida instead.

Florida State University professor Mark Bonn says, “Spending will be up, numbers of travelers down. Things will be more expensive because the cost of doing business is rising.” This means that despite a trickle of would-be European travellers falling back on Florida, the travel and tourism industry will continue to struggle with things like the high price of fuel and for those who do get abroad, the poor exchange rate of the US dollar against most foreign currencies.

Bonn says there is hope for the future, as 2009 is expected to be a rebound year for the US economy and therefore travel as well.