American travelers in Europe wary after U.S. attacks

BERLIN -- Diane and Vic Saul left Florida for Germany on Sunday, arriving in time to catch news of American airstrikes on Afghanistan from their hotel room.

"All we can do is hope and pray it doesn't escalate," Vic Saul, 44, said Tuesday near the 18th century Brandenburg Gate in the historic center of the German capital of Berlin.

Many Americans have canceled vacations and business travel to Europe since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and the retaliatory bombing of Afghanistan, but those who have gone ahead with trips seem resolved not to let their travels be altered significantly.

Berlin's famed Unter den Linden boulevard -- whose faded grandeur recalls the Prussian monarchy -- is full of reminders of the 21st century's first global conflict. Rolls of barbed wire are strung along metal fencing blocking the British Embassy. The security perimeter of the American Embassy has been extended for a full block, and patrons at a bar that shares a wall with the embassy must show identity papers to heavily armed police to enter.

The Sauls, who are from Clermont, Fla., said they understood precautions they've encountered, beginning with airport check-in back home, and had no regrets about their decision to continue on their trip.

"We want to stand behind our president, and he says you need to resume living your life normally, so we weren't going to cancel our vacation," said Diane Saul. "Something could just as easily happen to us back in the States."

The State Department issued a new travel warning on Monday, telling Americans abroad that strikes on Afghanistan may provoke "strong anti-American sentiment and retaliatory actions against U.S. citizens and interests."

With panicked calls from home and a bombardment of advice, many American travelers are left wondering exactly what they should be doing. For some, that means trying to look "less American" -- not wearing T-shirts or baseball caps.

"I read on the State Department Web site about potential strikes against symbols of American capitalism, and so we decided not to go to McDonald's and American Express," said San Francisco's Ross Steenson.

who was visiting Rome's Campidoglio museum.

Travel dropped sharply across Europe immediately following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and no one is sure yet of the impact from retaliatory strikes, in their third day Tuesday.

The German hotel industry alone lost $24 million during the week after Sept. 11, said Marc Schnerr, spokesman for the German Hotel and Restaurant Association. Since then, the number of overnight stays has dropped by 15 to 20 percent.

Spanish tourist officials said Tuesday the country had registered a 30 percent drop in hotel and flight bookings for October.

Schnerr expressed optimism the U.S.-British attacks on Afghanistan would bolster tourists' confidence -- noting that hotel bookings returned to normal a week after the Gulf War started.

"Tourism always reacts sensitively to war," Schnerr said. "But it gets back to normal quickly."

Many American companies have issued travel advisories telling staff to only travel if absolutely necessary. But for people like Robert Roethenmund, who runs the Berlin and Budapest offices of the Dallas-based real estate group Crow Holdings, staying at home is not an option.

"I hear my U.S. business colleagues talk about canceling flights in the States, but in Europe I haven't seen that," said Roethenmund. "Everyone feels upset about it, but I don't see a big change from a business point of view."

Richard Weiner, an American lawyer who lives in the Belgian capital of Brussels, said the American community there was just "trying to go about its business" -- albeit with a tinge of caution. "I have yet to feel the eerie pall that came over the town during the Gulf War, but that may yet be coming."

The normally ubiquitous American tourists were thinly spread Tuesday in the favored destinations of London and Paris. Those who did keep their plans admitted they had considered canceling.

"You're a little more aware of the situation, and you take more precautions," said Clarence Cramer, 67, from Burlington, N.J., who was visiting London.

Standing by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Dean Roland and his wife Diane said they were feeling a little uncertain after the strikes on Afghanistan.

"We used to be able to go anywhere, any time and not worry," said the 65-year-old businessman from Atlanta. "Now, we tend to stay where the crowds are and avoid walking around by ourselves."