Many European airports are seeing stepped up security right now as a result of terror alerts from the United States, France, England, Germany, Japan and others. The US State Department is not suggesting American travelers avoid Europe but they are suggesting US tourists avoid iconic sites like the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben, and stay away from public transportation.
“Every time, it’s a pain," said Stu Kaplan, of Jacksonville, on the heightened heightened security at airports.
No country is offering specifics on what the intelligence is finding with regard to potential terror strikes. And each country often interprets that intelligence differently. In fact, European countries are issuing slightly more severe pronouncements than the US, which is issuing only an “alert,” not a “warning.”
German authorities confirm several German nationals were killed at a suspected Al Qaida encampment in the lawless region of Pakistan by US drone attacks Monday, and that there may be a link between that action and the intelligence suggesting some kind of terror attack was planned against Westerners in Europe.
Meantime, several major hotels in Europe are dropping prices this weekend as the terror threat was issued, according to the president of one popular internet hotel booking website.
Bob Diener, who co-founded getaroom.com, says his team monitors scores of hotel pricings and says some famous hotels in London and Paris are cutting prices by half or more. "In London, for example, you can book 4-star hotels right now and all the way through March of next year for as low as $75 a night," he said.
German traveler Joseph Guidos and his wife, who are returning to Germany from Miami on British airways via London, say they’ve heard a lot about the terror alerts but aren’t deterred.
"I have heard it's a terror alert is over Europe but I don’t understand it," Joseph said explaining that he disagrees with tourists who become worried. It does not worry him. "No,” he says, “it's safe."
"We're going to see our children and grandchildren,” declared Brooke Kaplan heading to Wales via London. “And nothing's going to keep me away from that!"
Diener believes he is seeing a potential benefit in Miami and the US. "We’ve seen a slowdown of hotel bookings within European, and actually have seen an increase in hotel bookings domestically. More people traveling to cities such as Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Los Angeles."
While that's good news for the local economy, it also means there's a little more pressure to drive up hotel prices in Miami and elsewhere.
