It's recession time in Europe, and a lot of holiday destinations are worried about their prospects for 2009 - but some European areas who attract high spending individuals might not notice much difference in the year ahead.
Monaco conjures up an image of sophistication, the world's best street car race, the casino, elegance, celebrities and wealth, and is a magnet for high spenders.
But does the reality live up to the image?
Well, yes it does - at least according to official figures for Monaco's hotels, which include the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo's Casino Square, recognised as one of the top hotels in the world, and the Columbus Hotel in the Fontvieille district of Monaco.
In a recent report on Monaco's tourism, the Director General of the tourist office announced that no less than 93 per cent of the Principality's hotel capacity is in the luxury category - more than any other country in the world, and confirming Monaco's status as haven for the wealthy.
Also in the report figures showed that Monaco increased her tourist numbers by 36 per cent between 2004 and 2007, and last year alone saw a 10 per cent increase over 2006.
But good as the figures are, Monaco wants to further increase her tourists numbers. Unusually it's not just the numbers overall she wants to improve on, impressive though they are already - but one category in particular.
And it's a category of tourist that Monaco is particularly well placed to attract compared to almost every other country in the world - URI's.
URI's could almost have been a class of tourist specially designed for Monaco and all that she offers - and it stands for Ultra Rich Individuals.
One URI could spend more in a week in Monaco than several hundred average tourists, with the casino in Monte Square quite capable of taking a few hundred thousand Euros off the ultra rich in an evening or two. One URI from Italy was recently reported in a British newspaper as cashing up 700,000 Euros for one evening on the tables!
As well as the Monte Carlo casino Monaco has a lot more luxury that the ultra rich can spend their money on.
The Principality has an awful lot of luxury hotels, and they seldom come cheap. A suite could cost nearly 50,000 Euros a week. And outside of the casino and hotels there are always the car showrooms, estate agents and yacht brokers where a billionaire could happily while away a few hours on buying the very best of everything.
And evidence of the ultra rich's spending is everywhere to be seen in Monaco - Aston Martin and Ferraris abound - the best clothes and fashion boutiques - and in the harbour yachts custom designed for billionaires.
With spending power like that, it won't take many extra tourists for Monaco to improve the amount of money coming into the country!
Author Resource:-
Information about the Hotel de Paris in Monaco is available with monacoproperty.net who include other hotel in Monte Carlo reviews.
For businessmen and women they also have a list of Swiss banks in Monaco and for those who like a little lesisure time online poker and other facilities.
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