NEW YORK -- The winner of this year's comeback award?
Croatia wins hands down, with Turkey as close runner-up.
Croatia was one of the European tourist destinations most
affected by the war in Kosovo last spring because of its proximity
to the conflict.
A spokeswoman for the Croatian Tourist Office estimated its U.S.
visitor numbers will be up to 50,487 in 2000 over 36,060 in 1999, a
37.5% increase.
Meanwhile, Turkey's U.S. arrivals are up 27.5% over last year
with 661,000 visitors through July, a 23% growth over 1998,
according to Selami Karaibrahimgil, director of the Turkish Tourist
Office.
"We find this increase [to be] very normal after the
earthquake," he said, referring to the devastating quake which hit
outside of Istanbul last September.
Karaibrahimgil noted that prior to the earthquake, Turkey "was
used to a yearly increase of 17% to 20% from the U.S."
Turkey's return to normalcy was matched by summer increases for
Austria, which reported a 17.8% increase in arrivals for May,
compared with the same period last year, and an estimated 33.1%
growth spurt in June, with 97,476 arrivals.
No overall 2000 projections were available, but a spokeswoman
said, "it's obvious that all the fuss about Haider isn't hurting
our business from the U.S.," referring to Jorg Haider, the
controversial right-wing politician whose party entered into a
coalition government in January, creating a flurry of negative
press.
The spokeswoman cited the strength of the dollar in Austria,
where it is worth 25% more than last summer, along with demand
after the war in Kosovo as possible reasons for Austria's strong
showing.
Europe's leading tourist destination for Americans, Great
Britain, had a less dramatic tale to tell.
Great Britain revised its U.S. tourism forecast down in December
1999, from an increase of 5% to 3%, with an anticipated 4 million
arrivals.
The forecast was "deliberately conservative mainly because
British Airways was projecting a decline in capacity of 14% over
the next three years because of offering more Club and fewer
economy seats," said a spokesman for the British Tourist
Authority.
The spokesman added that an increase in lift available to other
parts of Europe, particularly Frankfurt, was helping other
countries capture more of the U.S. market, resulting in more
dramatic increases than showed by Great Britain this year.
France, the second-most popular European destination for
American travelers, remains strong with a projected increase of
8.5% in U.S. arrivals for this summer and 2000 overall, resulting
in 3.5 million visitors.
As reported in the Aug. 21 issue of Travel Weekly, Ireland
expects to surpass the 1 million mark in 2000, which would be at
least a 16.5% increase over last year's U.S. visitor totals.
Finland reported a 12.6% jump over last spring, with figures
through May, and anticipated 10% growth through September over the
same period in 1999, an increase also predicted by Spain, which
experienced an 11% increase in U.S. visitors through June.
Hungary's growth was similar -- a 10% summer jump -- resulting
in an anticipated 300,000 arrivals from May through September.
Germany, Monaco and the Netherlands forecast overall 2000 growth
close to the New York-based European Travel Commission's projection
of 5% for Europe, collectively.