The Dollar: No Longer The Universal Tourist Currency?
Last week I heard that some stores in New York City were starting to accept payment in euros, and in some cases, the British pound. While some news outlets insinuated this was yet more proof of the dollar’s decline, I saw it more as a ploy by the stores to draw foreign shoppers by helping them avoid the hassle of converting their currency. On the website Lost Weekend: Brit Blokes On Tour, editor Rory Boland wrote the following post on February 7:
Now, stores in the Big Apple have started accepting the Euro, and in some cases the British pound, in an attempt to tempt in European bargain hunters.
The dollar, once the world’s currency, currently seems more like Monopoly money, and European shoppers have been rampaging through the city’s stores, malls and boutiques cashing in on the greenbacks tanking value.
Still, who would have thought New Yorkers would again be accepting coins and notes with the Queen beaming back at them. What would George Washington say?
Oi! Not funny!
Anyway, it’s what I read earlier this evening that really grabbed my attention and provided further evidence of the dollar’s fall from grace. Michelle Higgins of the New York Times News Service wrote “As the currency slides, U.S. dollar is no longer a ticket to anywhere,” which appeared yesterday on the Kansas City Star website. Higgins said:
The U.S. dollar used to be the universal tourist currency, accepted almost anywhere, from the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam, to the plains of Africa. But the continued slide of the dollar against other currencies has led the greenback to be shunned in unexpected places, creating new problems for American travelers and pushing prices higher.
The Taj Mahal has stopped accepting dollars for the entrance fee under a new edict from the Indian Ministry of Culture. As a result, for entrance to the Taj Mahal, Americans must now pay 750 rupees, about $19, at the rate of 39.49 rupees to the dollar, compared with $15 previously.
Some tour operators say they have encountered newfound resistance to dollars in parts of Vietnam and Peru, especially in villages that are off the beaten path.
“It used to be a $100 bill was universal everywhere, from Moscow to Mozambique,” said Peter Rudy, the North America director for KE Adventure Travel, a Denver-based outfit that books adventure trips throughout the world. “It’s not now.”
So much for going overseas in the near future. That Massachusetts Getaway Guide I received this weekend is looking pretty good right now. Anyone ever been to Rockport?
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