Summer is nearly upon us. And for many of us, that means one thing: getting away. It’s what we look forward to, what with the hustle and bustle of our work and personal lives, it’s the saviour we need when things get too much. Having a break and booking a trip can only be possible if your finances allow it, and many don’t have that luxury. For those that reside in the US, holidaymakers could be facing challenges when it comes to going away to their favourite destinations.
The Strength of the Dollar
At this moment in time, the dollar is relatively weak compared to previous years. And when the dollar is weak, it’s harder for holiday lovers to justify spending the money to spend leisurely time inside or outside of the country.
One way to judge the US dollar’s performance is to consult the DXY chart showing the strength of the dollar in relation to other currencies. Here we can see the US dollar has dropped by over 8% in the past six months. To put that into perspective, the DXY was at 110.936 in November 2022 and it has since dropped to 101.282 as of May 2023. The chart gives you full insight into how the currency has dropped and increased over several different time periods. If US holidaymakers want to track how much bang they’d get for their buck, they could refer to the DXY chart, which is updated regularly to help people make these financial decisions.
When the dollar is weak, it means that US tourists won’t get the same value for money at their holiday destination as they would if the dollar was strong. Statistics provided by Forbes state that 80% of Americans still decided they wanted to go on holiday during the Summer of 2022. This is interesting to see as the value of the dollar was also suffering in 2022, so perhaps the economic instability that the US is currently facing will not sway those who are hungry to get away.
Despite Forbes finding that 80% of US holidaymakers still aimed to go away last year, another study, presented as a percentage survey by Bloomberg, instead shows that 80% of Americans are having to change their usual holiday plans. Whether this is reducing the amount of time they’re gone for, or where they are going, they are ultimately having to put more financial plans in place to check whether any holiday-making decisions put them at risk.
It’s clear that, with data provided by the DXY chart and wider research covered throughout this article, the dollar is having an impact on people in the US who aim to go on holiday this summer, in or out of the country. Although summer plans will have to be cancelled for some families, it’s looking likely that compromises will have to be made for a lot of families to ensure they can at least get away this year.
