Not When in Rome, but IF!!!
According to NYTimes , the current economic crisis is having its effect on tourism in Rome and in Italy more broadly. There is a traditional stereotype, which is not really entirely wrong, that Germans travel more than any other national group but are stingy, whereas Americans rarely travel internationally (per capita, that is), but when they do, they spend big. This, however, is no longer proving true. In the current economic environment, those Americans who do make it to Rome spent all the money on the plane and hotel, and, therefore, are not spending on frills. Romans are saying that the only big spenders left are the Russians, Arabs, and Japanese. Overall, while numbers of tourists are down a bit, how much those tourists are spending is decreasing far more rapidly. They are coming, but they aren't spending! The article blames the strength of the Euro for non-Europeans traveling (or failure to do so): The strong euro and worsening economic crisis have taken their toll on t...