It seems so swift, yet suddenly you can't help but notice, an entirely new tribe touring right alongside.
It happens so quickly. For example, a few years ago, Chinese tourists everywhere, so many more than before, enjoying the gorgeous environs of Northern Italy.
In Venice, Verona and of course, Milan, so many Asians it was almost startling, if only because I hadn't seen so many Asians before, in Northern Italy.
Certainly a strong indicator of an emerging middle class. You can literally see their economic ascent, some moving full time to Italy, industrious, moving their lives, as we had a few years before.
Yesterday we arrived back from Austria. While at the Spa, in Tirol, unlike our
last visit, we saw several Russians, their families having a great time, enjoying the thermal baths, they'd jump out of the pools, lay in the ice surrounding the outside baths, maximizing the benefits of the body circulation concept. A father or son would lay in the snow for as long as possible, teasing one another, goading for as long as possible, then diving back into the thermal pools. Fun stuff as most of the guests are German, the odd English couple, some Portuguese, several French.
Then, we headed over to Salzburg, a city we know well, having visited often, I was surprised by the number of Indians. Everywhere, enjoying the shopping, the food, the culture. Again, startling if only because it 'feels' so sudden. So many of them, again, a strong indicator of a middle class emerging.
Too bad it took Paul Krugman 40 months to figure out the the US is experiencing a depression. Krugman, a hardcore Keynesian economics, full of theory that many argue cannot possibly apply to our global market, playing his numbers like it's post WW2 and we're for the first time flush, put in charge of the funds.
Unfortunately, that was then. Quite like the UK, America has lousy fundamentals, but like the UK, the people still have great faith in financial services.
It's a theory....but what I do know is tourism provides a visual indicator of the various middle class emerging from the various continents.
Good for them, for global economics but not so great for the nation state.
