Tuesday, October 22

Locals of Austrian village of Hallstatt protest in opposition to mass tourism

Locals within the picturesque Austrian village of Hallstatt have staged a protest in opposition to mass tourism by blocking the primary street to the city.

The lakeside village – which some say was the inspiration for Arendelle in Disney’s Frozen – has a inhabitants of simply 800, however will get as much as 10,000 guests a day throughout excessive season.

On Sunday, locals blocked the primary entry tunnel to the village in a protest in opposition to overtourism.

The tunnel was closed for about quarter-hour, Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten reported.

About 100 folks gathered for the protest, carrying placards with slogans comparable to “Now an emergency brake. Or we will be run over”; “Think of our children” and “Radical frontiers for mass tourism”.

The protesters wished a cap on each day guests and a 5pm curfew for tour buses.

Hallstatt is a UNESCO World Heritage web site and has seen a increase in tourism lately. Before the pandemic it noticed roughly one million guests a 12 months.

Tourists use their smartphones near Hallstaettersee lake in Hallstatt, Austria July 27, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Image:
Signs at a viewpoint encourage vacationers to be quiet

Read extra:
People injured after P&O cruise ship ‘crashes’
Wales vacationers might pay further payment for in a single day stays
Venice could possibly be added to hazard record after ‘inadequate’ measures to deal with mass tourism

Fed-up locals put up an “anti-selfie fence” earlier this 12 months, blocking a part of the mountain view to discourage vacationers and the noise air pollution they create. It was later taken down.

At the time, the mayor mentioned he wished to cut back the variety of tour buses by a 3rd.

The town of Hallstatt was rumoured to be one of the inspirations for Arendelle from the Disney film Frozen
Image:
Hallstatt was rumoured to be one of many inspirations for Arendelle from the Disney movie Frozen

The reputation of Hallstatt was partly fuelled by a 2006 Korean TV collection, Spring Waltz, which was shot there.

Six years later, a life-size duplicate of the village was opened within the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

Content Source: information.sky.com