For Immediate Release

December 17 , 2008

Contact: Chris Pranskatis -Phone: 970.708.7359

Telluride, CO-Airfare prices declined in recent months and the U.S. dollar showed unexpected gains against other currencies, yielding an unexpectedly positive forecast for travelers heading to Europe in 2009.

Cheapflights.com, a travel deals search engine, stated in a recent press release that, “Not only will the cost of airfare drop significantly in 2009, but new routes, new runways, and new technologies will make travel easier and more reliable.”

Carl Schwartz, Chief Travel Officer for Cheapflights.com, added, "In just the past two months, our research has shown a six percent decline among airfare prices; an optimistic indication of what lies ahead for travelers."

What lies ahead for the economy poses a different question, but it’s a question that recently worked to the advantage of U.S. travelers visiting countries in Europe.

Stephanie Pino works with Commonwealth Foreign Exchange, a foreign exchange services company, and commented about the U.S. dollar’s recent gains over other foreign currencies. “Basically markets are always driven more by perception rather than any actual piece of news. People started seeing the U.S. dollar as a "safe haven" currency again. If people perceive the dollar to be a good deal, than they buy. If not, they sell.“

One adventure travel company that monitors market perceptions and currency exchange closely is Ryder-Walker Alpine Adventures, a Colorado based tour operator that organizes hiking tours in the European Alps.

Peter Walker, the company’s Founder and President, said that he’s pleased about the current situation and about the outlook for 2009. “We fixed our tour prices before the currency gained strength this fall. This means that even if the dollar loses those gains by this summer, our prices will probably remain the same.”

Walker mentioned that travelers should book early rather than to try and wait for future dollar strenghts and the resulting lowering of tour prices. “I think the chance that the dollar will strengthen even more is rather slim. In fact, there is always a chance that the markets will suddenly reverse and we’ll lose more than we ever gained.” He added, “It wouldn’t affect the people that booked early, but prospective guests might see higher mid-season tour prices.”

Pino acknowledged that next year’s market conditions are still anybody’s guess. “I think near term we may see a reversal of the rates we have been seeing over the past 2-3 months. I think people jumped on the bandwagon with little thought to how unstable the markets are.”

Walker reiterated that he’s still happy and hopeful about the 2009 season. “Right now, between lowering airfares and a strong dollar, the market conditions are very unexpectedly favorable for our guests.”

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