Loving Low Dollar, Europeans Come to Shop

The weak dollar is forcing Americans to shelve travel plans, but Europeans are flying over to score on stellar exchange rates. With the British pound worth $1.99 and the euro $1.58, tourists are coming to the US to shop: More than 15 million visited in the first 4 months of 2008, spending $11.6 billion in April alone—21% more than the same month last year.

“I bought an iPod for my girlfriend,” a London resident told MSNBC. “It was about half” what he would pay at home. In New York City, the main destination, tourism is up 12% this year. For Americans going to Britain, meanwhile, know that coffee will cost about $3.30 a cup and dinner for two is $200. "I don’t know how you can afford to eat in London," one visitor said. (More currency stories.)