The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
WHAT TOURISTS SPEND
From tie Boston Globe.

From tie Boston Globe.
 How much money American travellers
 leave annually in Europe is being dis |. cussed in newspapers and magazines
 more earnestly than ever. The to-
 tai sum, it is generally admitted.
 has been growing enormously within five
 years Writers in foreign newspapers are astonished at the increased output of American dollars in Great Britain, France. Switzerland, Italy and other countries and prominent bankers aver that the millions of dollars expended rep
 resent very large portion of the reve-
 nue of some of the countries in question.
 A conservative estimate places the num-
 Der of American travellers to Europe this
 year between 125,Oo0 and 15O,OO0 Another
 estimate based on the all-the-year-round travel from the United States indicates that at least 3O0,0O0 Americans cross the Atlantic and expend $760 a head, exclusive of steamship tickets, or s22S S,000,O0O in all.
 Call the total figure even a little over
 one-half of that sum or $125,O ,000, and it is seen that foreign countries must profit immensely from the tourists. The principal foreign countries also
 realize tremendous revenue from tour ists from countries other than the United States. It is claimed by French bankers l that the income of France from all tour ists is something like s50O,O 900 annual l ly. The tourist toll to Italy is now reck-
 oned at slOO,OOO,OOO Egypt, Norway, Hol- Ia erous revenue from sightseers. | In Switzerland the innkeepers live. off l travellers the year round. A writer finds | from a report of the Swiss hotelkeepers' | association that hotel receipts alone have doubled since 1880 and are today s40.00O | 900 a year. In 20 years the number of hotels has increased from 10S0 to 200O. Lu cerne between May and November last | year was visited by 186,227 tourists. In l the winter time it is estimated there are 1 100000 visitors to the various Swiss re- 1 sorts.
 The winter sports have served to in- | crease the revenue of the hotels in most | European countries. There are only three
 months in the year now-November, De-
 cember and January-when there is any l but during the other nine months thou
 sands are crossing the Atlantic. | Paris is the greatest center for tour l ists and particularly for automobilists. l It is said that the perfect roads in the
 French republic are very nearly paying | for themselves in the great fund of gold | that motorists annually leave in the coun- | try At one time during the summer season 1t was estimated that 5000 automo- 1 bile parties, embracing 10000 Americans, were touring the continent and that their | running expenses would be $25, GOO 900. The majority of them visited various sections l of France.
 | The money expended in shopping by | tourists in Europe, representing many countries, is almost beyond calculation. l Clothing, furs, Jewelry and souvenirs or every description are purchased by both men and women. The stores in Paris, London Berlin and other leading cities reap harvest of gold which aggregates many millions.
 | Probably three times as much is spent | by Americans in Paris and in France | generally as in London and the British isles, says a Review of Reviews writer,
 and nearly as much in Germany as in | England, especially since so many rich | Americans take the water cure and count
 a season of physical retreat at the lead-
 ing German spas as a part of their an- | nual round of living; as large an amount | in Italy as in England and Germany | combned--Italy now draws her largesse I from nine of ten Americans who go ! abroad in the winter or spring-while of
 the $6 900, 900 tourists bonus to Egypt each year the American contributes goodly | share"
 1 Once the Britisher was the worlds | greatest traveller, but now the American, l the German and the South American, who have been making money, can be | found in all the continental health and pleasure resorts. Of course, the times have much to do with the tide of travel. | Since 1900 the United States has had good times, hence foreign travel has increased.
 Indeed, to accommodate travellers more l than a score of new ''liners" have been
 built necessitating an expense of nearly
 s10o, 100000.