Updated December 19, 2003 -- Once a firm and powerful currency, the US dollar over the past year has taken on the consistency of a wet paper towel.
Over the past year, the dollar has hit historic lows, dropping 17.4% against the Euro, nearly 10% against the British pound, 15.27% against the Canadian dollar and 24.15% against the Australian dollar, according to currency exchange firm OANDA. That means an 100€ hotel room now costs you $123 -- when just 18 months ago it was $93.
In a recent survey of hotels and restaurants in Spain, we saw the damage the falling dollar is doing for US tourists. Between natural price increases and the weak dollar, over the past year $40 budget hotels have jumped to $55, and tasty $11 meals now cost $14.
The weak dollar is miserable for American budget travelers, who will find the world in 2003 a much more expensive place. (Europeans, on the other hand, are flocking to the US in droves, according to Markus Ruediger of the global Thomas Cook travel agency.)
"The [US] dollar is as weak as it's been in recent memory," said Susan Druckman of foreign exchange firm Travelex. "Even the Canadian dollar is becoming worth something."
Don't think that venturing outside the Euro zone will bring relief. The dollar has lost about 15% against the Czech koruna in the past year, it's dropped about 3% against the Polish zloty, 12.57% against the Japanese yen, and has lost a whopping 28% against the South African rand, which was for years one of the whipping-boys of the international currency markets.
You can see the currency carnage for yourself by checking out OANDA's Currency Map at www.oanda.com/products/fxmap/fxmap.shtml.
A Few Refuges For Dollars
Since we last printed this column in June, the US dollar has collapsed against the Brazilian real, and it isn't doing so well against the Argentine and Chilean currencies either. But we're holding our own in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras. And the currencies of Ecuador and much of the Caribbean are locked to the dollar.
Farther afield, the currencies in China and Hong Kong are pegged to the dollar, giving US travelers consistently affordable prices. And the dollar also seems to have stabilized against a few Asian currencies, in Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and South Korea.
And of course, you can travel domestically, or to US possessions. Thanks to our country's vast size, there are plenty of exotic destinations where you don't even have to use a passport. In Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, a dollar is a dollar is a dollar -- and it'll remain so for the foreseeable future.