Plunging Peso Yet to Trigger Tourism Boom : Currency: U.S. bargain hunters are disappointed to find prices of travel packages to Mexico haven’t dropped much.

The plunging value of the Mexican peso has yet to trigger any dramatic increases in tourist travel, and the bargains that many travelers expected are proving harder to find, according to many travel agents.

American bargain hunters have been disappointed to find that the dollar-denominated prices of many popular package tours, airline tickets and rooms at large hotel chains have not budged since the peso has lost roughly 40% of its value in the past week. Many tour companies have already set prices for next year and are not expected to change them.

“We are getting an awful lot of calls as to whether our rates are going down,” said Ken Phillips, a spokesman for Pleasant Mexico Holidays, a Westlake Village-based tour operator. “The answer is no. That’s because all the contracts--with hotels and airlines--are fixed in U.S. dollars.”

Mexico was already popular among U.S. tourists even before the peso’s fall, say travel agents who reported strong bookings for Mexican resorts this winter. In the long run, many travel industry experts see the cheaper peso as helping Mexico remain competitive with other low-cost destinations such as the Caribbean and Hawaii.

Since the devaluation, some Mexican hotel and tourist groups reported a significant increase in calls from Americans. “The last two days have been tremendously busy,” said Gina Cord, whose travel company represents about 30 hotels in Baja California.

But for the most part, travel agents, hotel chains and airlines have seen no dramatic change in their Mexico business. Most consumers have been too busy with the Christmas holiday to have noticed the peso’s plunge, travel agents said.

“There has not been an immediate impact,” said Barb Hamberger, a spokeswoman for Minneapolis-based Carlson Travel Network, one of nation’s largest travel agencies. “People are not thinking about (Mexico) at the moment.”

The biggest bargains await those savvy, independent travelers who convert their dollars to pesos to pay for hotel, food and merchandise.

The cheaper peso means guests at the 300-room Hyatt Regency hotel in Merida, Mexico, will pay $65 a night for a room instead of $120 if they convert their dollars to pesos. But most guests at the hotel on the Yucatan Peninsula have paid in advance in dollars through travel agents and, as a result, won’t see any savings in their hotel bills, said general manager Eduardo Cruz.

“Most of the contracts for rooms with international travel agents are done on a dollar basis,” he said. “They would get a better deal if they converted their dollars.”

But even that strategy will become less lucrative as hotels, restaurants, gift shops and other tourist-related businesses raise their peso prices. For now, most hotels are abiding by a government request to freeze rates for at least 30 days. After that, however, rates will probably rise if the peso remains depressed, travel experts said.

If travel to Mexico remains strong next year, many wholesalers that sell hotel rooms, tours and other services to travel agents may keep some of the savings that resulted from a cheaper peso, said Kathy Traynor, a travel agent for Associated Travel in Monrovia.

“They’re thinking in terms of a bigger profit,” she said.

* RATE HIKE

Mexico doubles a key interest rate in a bid to retain foreign investors. A1

* PESO GAINS

Signs of stability slow exodus from Mexican market. D3