Tourism: Europe feels U.S. financial crisis in absence of tourism -- Christine Spolar
American Express has shuttered two decades-old offices in major tourist cities. Taxi drivers are wailing that Americans and their big tips are nowhere to be seen. Clerks at the upscale clothiers along Via dei Condotti are helping buyers from Russia and China—the only holiday travelers found sifting through their racks one day last week. "Americans just aren't here," said driver Piero Capotosti, who used to draw a dependable income from Americans. He estimates his traffic has dropped as much as 40 percent from last year. "They don't have the money. You can really feel it," he said. "Now a lot of tourists are taking low-cost tours or coming from Eastern Europe. We have a name for them: The 'tight-fisted tourists.' "
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