Europeans may curb travel habits

Recent tourism data shows the European financial crisis may put a crimp on visitors to the Gulf Coast from countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.

European visitors are important to Florida's summer tourism because they spend more time and money here than domestic travelers. Even though the number of European visitors is relatively small, their spending power is much greater than domestic tourists.

But recent data from convention and visitors bureaus so far point to a soft European market. For example, Lee County has seen a 46% drop in the number of German tourists in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year. In Collier County, European traffic is down 1.7% in the first six months compared with the same period through June 2010. In Pinellas County, the number of European visitors is down 1.8% through May.