Residents of Hallstatt in the Salzburg Alps protest against the influx of tourists. Although only 700 people live in the Austrian city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, up to 10,000 tourists visit daily during the season.
The people are calling for reducing the number of visitors and banning the entry of tourist buses after 10 am. Five o’clock in the evening, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Tourism brings a lot of income to the city
The small, cliff-surrounded town lies on Lake Hallstattersee. The natural scenery draws crowds of tourists to the city, especially since Hallstatt was featured in a South Korean romantic movie and a replica of it was built in China, complete with picturesque houses and a slender church tower. Tourism generates a lot of income for the city, but the number of visitors is a huge burden on the population. Many tourists come in search of the perfect selfie against the backdrop of the lake, the slender light-gray church tower and the stunning mountain scenery. In May, residents protested the excessive number of visitors by erecting a wooden wall that blocks the view of the Alpine landscape and makes it impossible to take pictures.
They protested the noise and traffic in this way, but after reactions on social media they removed the impediment, the BBC states. But the mayor announced that he will reduce the number of tourist buses arriving by a third. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly a million people visited Hallstatt annually.
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Main image source: stock struggle
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