Dec. 14 -- Bronagh Cullinan and three friends from Ireland happily bypassed the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building on a recent visit to New York.
Instead, they made a beeline for boutiques and department stores where they could buy $400 shoes that would cost the equivalent of $600 to $700 at home.
``We save so much, we can't afford not to come over,'' said Cullinan, 34. The women, interviewed on Dec. 5, said they each planned to spend at least 5,000 euros -- about $7,300 -- during a week of shopping.
From Macy's to Manolo Blahnik, the falling dollar is making New York City a hot destination for Western Europeans. The trans- Atlantic boom is bolstering the city's economy at a time when its real estate market has cooled and Wall Street profits have decreased.
``The power of the euro is the most important thing to happen to us since we got featured in `Sex and the City,''' the HBO cable-television show, said George Malkemus, president of luxury- shoe maker Manolo Blahnik, in a telephone interview. ``We have affluent European women coming in to buy five or six pairs who might have bought one years ago.''
It's that way around Manhattan as merchants and hotels reap the benefits of euros and pounds having more buying power in dollar terms.
``We have six days to do our Christmas shopping, and we have seen all of Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue,'' said Michaela Gilles, 40, an office manager for a textile company in Duesseldorf, Germany, as she shopped for toys at FAO Schwarz.
Foreigners made up 17 percent of the city's 44 million visitors last year and generated half of the $24.7 billion that tourists spent, according to NYC & Co., the convention and visitors' bureau.
Loaded With Purchases
``If you see someone walking out with lots of bags, they must be from somewhere else,'' said Sharon Mosse, a New York marketing executive, as she exited Barney's, a high-end department store on the Upper East Side. ``You hear a lot of people talking German, Italian and French.''
The largest number of visitors is from the U.K., 1.7 million last year. While Ireland ranks eighth, its tourists spend the most, an average of $389 a day, according to surveys conducted for NYC & Co.
``I don't think there are any people left in England and Ireland -- they're all here,'' said Joan Wolff, senior manager of Macy's Herald Square store.
The store, Macy's flagship, has been getting as many as 6,000 foreign visitors a day, she said.
``British tourists would spend 1 pound two years ago and it was $1.50 in our economy,'' said George Fertitta, chief executive officer of NYC & Co. ``Now we feel it as $2, and they feel it as having a lot of buying power.''
Tax Revenue
Tourism contributed $1.94 billion to the city's tax coffers last year. Officials expect an increase this year with the influx of international shoppers, said Marcia Van Wagner, chief economist for the Comptroller's office.
Hotel occupancy is averaging about 90 percent this year, and hotel tax revenue, which totaled $325.8 million last year, is up 18 percent, according to the city Finance Department.
``It's clearly great for the economy to have the European tourists coming here at a time when we're experiencing a little bit of a slump,'' Van Wagner said.
Back in 2003, international travel to New York hit a six- year low, NYC & Co. said. The euro, now trading at $1.45, averaged $1.13 then, and the pound, now at $2.03, averaged $1.63.
``It's kind of depressing to see the tables turned with all these people coming here to shop, when we're the ones who used to go to London and Paris and Rome to buy lots of stuff,'' said Mosse, 57.
New Jersey, Too
The shopping sprees spill across city limits. Hundreds of European bargain hunters fill buses at the Port Authority terminal, bound for Jersey Gardens, an Elizabeth, New Jersey, outlet mall where many stores sell designer-label clothes and accessories.
``Our Irish customers are up 30 percent from last year,'' said Crystal Stell, marketing director. ``All our international travelers are up.'' Cullinan said her group ran into acquaintances from Dublin at the mall.
Merely being from abroad wins shoppers a deal at some stores. Both Jersey Gardens and Macy's Inc. reduce prices for shoppers with non-U.S. passports.
``They come to our visitors' center, show their passports and get an 11 percent discount on apparel,'' said Elina Kazan, spokeswoman for Macy's East.
The deals can be so good for those paying with euros or pounds that buyer's remorse may set in -- for the purchase not made.
Jennifer Gordon Smith, 32, a magazine editor from London, was tempted by $650 strappy snakeskin sandals at Manolo Blahnik in Midtown. She already had splurged on a pair of Prada suede boots for $900, so she passed on the sandals. Once home, she had second thoughts.
``I have regretted it ever since,'' Smith wrote in an e- mail.
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