A Recess From the Recession.(International Edition; SPECIAL REPORT: TRAVEL)(tourism and travle industry)

We need a vacation more than ever. Battered and broke, anxious and exhausted, we are desperate for an escape from our day-to- day lives. Yet in this new age of austerity, jet-setting has been jettisoned, private yachts docked and presidential suites left to the presidents. Though even French President Nicolas Sarkozy fielded plenty of grief recently when he and his wife jetted off to Mexico for a two-day holiday as guests of the Mexican president.

The travel industry is bracing for possibly the worst season since 9/11. The U.N. estimates that worldwide tourism will fall by up to 2 percent this year, with the Americas and Europe hardest hit. The number of international tourists going to the United States fell 9 percent during the year ending in January, and the amount they spent fell 7 percent. The number going to Britain fell 2.6 percent in 2008, and the number of Brits traveling abroad fell nearly 9 percent in the last three months of the year. Even France--still the world's top tourist destination--saw a 3 percent drop in ...