How Italy's economic crisis will effect travel?

It is speculations. It the Italy government failed economically it would have impact from the value of the dollar to our stock market. If the Euro was in trouble then the dollar would strengthen but how much? It is something I cannot control so I tend to ignore it,

David, I don't think there's any way of predicting what's going to happen with the current financial situation in Italy (or elsewhere in Europe). There are simply too many variables, and I'm sure the situation will be evolving over the next few months. Most of the "experts" seem to agree that they can't allow the Euro to fail, as it would be devastating for not only Europe, but the rest of the world. Strikes occur in Italy even when the economy is "perking along normally", so I'm sure travellers will deal with those as always. For example, on a previous trip to Rome, a "Manifesto" took place that shut down all the transit in the city. I decided to deal with the situation by stopping for a nice long hot meal and by the time that was finished, things were starting to return to normal. The Euro / Dollar exchange rate is constantly changing, so I'm never concerned about it. "It is what it is", which basically only leaves two choices: > Pay whatever the rate is at the time and don't worry about it. > Don't travel. I tend to favour pragmatism over a Crystal Ball. Cheers!

I'm going in April (annoying questions to come) and all I know is,... I will no longer be asking my wife if she could try and get us invited to a "Bunga-bunga" party. ^_^ Plus, I also live in a place where the things are weird (i.e. ~ the property values are broken!)
But, life still somehow soldiers on like it always has.

Unless you are planning an extended stay, the dollar-to-euro exchange should be pretty steady from the beginning to the end of your trip. You might start tracking hotel rates on a booking site - I've noticed some price slashing this year that wasn't there last year.

Crystal ball is right. None of us are monetary or economic experts. And even if we were, those experts almost never agree anyway. Italian strikes can happen anytime for any reason. They are usually a short duration. Role with it. The exchange rate will go up and down as it always does. Do not try to guess it. For a 2 week stay, the likely difference is only a couple hundred dollars. The tourist industry will be busy as always unless something catastrophic happens (think 9/11 or the Iceland volcano shutting down airtravel, Mt Vesuvious erupting, WWIII...).

When I was in Portugal in October 2011, the price for public transportation was increased due to the economic crisis. But it was not increased to an unreasonable amount. Has the same happened in other European countries?