BY SACHIN KUMAR
DOHA: Tourists going to Europe from Qatar this year will enjoy a welcome benefit due to depreciating euro — the official currency of Eurozone. They will be able to buy more euros compared to a year ago due to sharp fall in its value against the US dollar.
The euro has fallen around 25 percent against the American currency since May last year. The Qatari riyal has also gained against euro in the same proportion as it is pegged to the dollar. Currently, one euro is trading at 3.92 Qatar riyal while in May last year a euro was fetching 5.07 riyals.
“Europe is a major tourist destination for visitors from Qatar. London, Paris, Milan and Rome are among the most visited cities by tourists there,” said a senior official of Doha-based tours and travel company.
“Those who are planning to visit Europe will definitely benefit from depreciation of euro as they will be able to buy more European currency. It means they will be able to shop more in European city or will be able to stay for more days,” he added.
Buying tickets to European cities, staying in hotels and shopping will be cheaper for tourists. The fall in euro has coincidentally timed well with the tourist season in Qatar which will begin with the onset of summer. The depreciation is likely to continue coming months due to multiple reasons, believe experts.
“Euro has fallen 12pc against dollar so far in 2015 and almost 25 percent since last May. The fall is likely to continue in coming months because of the bond buying programme initiated by the European Central Bank (ECB),” said a senior official working in currency exchange.
The Federal Reserve — the central bank of the US, is likely to raise its interest rates this year. This hike will make dollar further strong as global investors will invest money in US bonds to get higher returns. On the contrary, the ECB recently announced $1.2 trillion bond buying programme or Quantitative Easing which will flush the European economy with additional liquidity that has pulled the interest rates down. Currently a German 10-year bond is paying 0.25 percent whereas a US 10-year bond is paying 2.1 percent, showing that money will be flowing to US to chase higher returns and not in Eurozone.The Peninsula
