Asian Tourists Save on Gucci as Euro Weakens, Peso Surges

Ayie Aligada, a former airline training manager from Manila, gained from the Philippine peso’s 4 percent jump against the euro in as many weeks when she snapped up a Chloe bag for 1,475 euros ($1,857) on a month-long jaunt through Europe.

She had plenty of company on her May tour of Paris, Barcelona and Rome, where Asian shoppers are lining up outside luxury goods stores. Elaine Chua, 32, a Singaporean homemaker, went to Paris for four days in April and saved about 1,500 Singapore dollars ($1,178) on a Chanel bag, the price of a return airfare. Pongsak Luangaram, 41, a lecturer from Bangkok, dropped a plan to visit Japan and went to Italy in May, buying a Ferrari jacket.