European hotels, car rental companies and government tourism agencies are ramping up marketing and turning to creative payment plans, complimentary cellphone use and deep discounts to salvage the summer travel business.

These efforts aimed at American tourists are intensifying as fluctuating exchange rates, rising airfares, and a gloomy economic outlook threaten to deter the world’s most lucrative travelers from crossing the ocean.

Visits to European countries by Americans - who tend to stay longer, spend more, and return repeatedly over the years - have slipped as much as 5 percent this year compared with last year. But foreign tourism officials hope their summer incentives will stop that trend and help attract 13 million US travelers by the end of this year, the same number of Americans who visited in 2007.

“It’s going to be tough, so we have to try harder,” said Jean-Philippe Pirol, chairman for the European Travel Commission, a marketing organization that promotes Europe as a tourist destination.

To take the sting out of a U.S. dollar that’s currently worth only €0.65, some hotels are guaranteeing that room rates won’t rise as the greenback’s value falls. The Hotel Lutetia and Hotel du Louvre in Paris are letting Americans lock in the exchange rate that’s listed the day they book their reservations. And WorldHotels’ collection of 52 independent properties throughout Europe does even better with its “Pay in Dollars” deal, which eliminates the exchange rate and puts the euro on par with the dollar for U.S. residents who pay with cash or traveler’s checks and stay at least two nights by Aug. 31.

But some travel companies are luring Americans in other ways.

Ardeonaig Hotel in Scotland is contacting past guests and touting the credentials of its chef, Pete Gottgens, who prepares locally grown ingredients in simple ways and has cooked for luminaries such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

And Auto Europe is offering car rental upgrades or complimentary use of cellphones or GPS navigation devices on some rentals.

National governments are pitching in, too, by boosting marketing efforts.

Romanian tourism officials are participating in 11 North American consumer travel shows this year, up from just three last year. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has increased its U.S. advertising budget this year by 30 percent, compared with last year. And Tourism Ireland recently began U.S. newspaper, magazine, radio, and Internet advertisements highlighting vacation savings and carrying the message: “Ireland - Can you afford not to go?”

Donna Chin, 33, is not going to Europe this year because of the sticker shock her parents experienced when they traveled to London and Rome earlier this year. “My parents went on a European vacation for a month and didn’t realize how weak the dollar was over there, so they had to take extra cash out of the ATM, about $2,000,” said the Brockton pharmaceutical representative.

In addition to the unfavorable exchange rates, just buying plane tickets to most European cities now costs at least $180 more per round trip than it did last summer, according to Tom Parsons, chief executive of BestFares.com, an airfare tracking Web site.

Americans also spend a lot, usually more than visitors from any other country, said Pirol, who is director of the French Government Tourist Office in addition to his role with the European Travel Commission.

Tags: aim, american tourists, amp, auto europe, budget, car rental companies, dis, dl, economic outlook, ela, european countries, european travel commission, government tourism, greenback, hotel du louvre, hotel lutetia, independent properties, louvre in paris, luminaries, marketing organization, parents, president bill clinton, summer travel, tourism agencies, tourism officials, tourists, travel companies, vic

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