Tourists to Spain's beaches will soon be carrying euros

MALLORCA, Spain (CNN) -- Mallorca is package tour paradise, with millions of sun-loving Germans and Britons cramming its beaches every year.

But something new is about to make a splash here: the euro.

Starting next January, the single European currency will make winners -- or losers -- out of holidaymakers and the businesses that cater to them.

"In the tourist business, in the hotel industry, in the lodging industry, the euro, it's going to be good for us," says Felipe Gaspart of the Zontur Hotel Association.

Tourism companies will no longer lose on currency exchanges, and prices might even drop. Prices will certainly be easier to compare in the 12 countries using the euro. Three of them -- Spain, France and Italy -- already rank among the world's top five tourist destinations.

Germans, who are among world's most frequent travelers, will no longer have to trade their marks for pesetas when in Spain.

"To travel around in our world now and especially in united Europe, it is very important that we have also a unique money so we can travel more easily," says one German tourist here.

At bars, restaurants, tourist shops and hotels, many Europeans are getting an appetite for euros.

A typical bill at one restaurant here is about 80 euros. For the Germans, Italians and French, that will be easy to understand, because they'll already be using the euro every day.

But it'll be far more difficult for the Britons, Swedes, Americans and the rest of the world, who will still have to change their own money to euros and try to keep up with its fluctuating rates.

One big euro-loser: The money changing houses. One currency trader who spoke with CNN predicts almost all of Spain's 6,000 storefront exchange shops will close.

And it may not just be the moneychangers who lose. Britain has chosen not to join the euro, at least for now. At poolside in Mallorca, some British tourists predict a chill.

"I think initially we'll be losers because the exchange rates, we're going to lose each time," says one Briton here.

Adds another: "Obviously, working in British industry, I see that eventually we have to join because we're going to lose out economically on the euro."

The pound and the dollar are currently strong against the euro. But many experts say that could change when the euro actually goes into people's pockets, increasing investor confidence. If that happens, European vacations may be more expensive for everyone outside the eurozone.