Jakarta –
Hallstatt, a beautiful village in Austria, is fed up with the excessive presence of tourists. Residents also organized various demonstrations against this measure. overtourism.
Hallstatt, located in the Austrian mountains, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The village, named the most beautiful village in the world, features beautiful old houses lined up by the lake with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains.
The problem is that the beauty of the village has become a mistake lately. The village, which has become increasingly popular after being considered the inspiration for the town of Arendelle and the filming location for the Korean drama Spring Waltz, is flooded with tourists. In fact, it’s so beautiful that a complete Hallstatt replica was even made in China. Regarding the inspiration for the film Frozen, the film’s art director said that Arendelle was the result of a trip to Norway and Canada, not Austria.
Data shows that the number of tourists outnumbers local residents. Yes, the village has about 800 inhabitants, but the tourists who come here reach 10,000 people per day. Tourists also crowd its beautiful streets during peak season.
Overtourism is also a problem for the most beautiful village in the world. Residents began to feel uncomfortable in their own homes. In addition, many tourists do stupid things for the content of the streets.
In August, residents of Hallstatt protested by blocking the main tunnel leading into the city. Photos showed protesters holding signs with messages such as “Limit visitors, recover habitat” and “Radical limits on mass tourism,” among other protest banners.
Michelle Knoll, director of the Hallstatt tourist office, in her interview with The New York Times, said many tourists seemed to come just to take selfies.
“Many visitors have limited time and only come to take a few photos,” Knoll said.
“There are too many tourists,” he added.
The city has taken several steps to limit tourism, including limiting the number of tour buses allowed each day.
In May, locals erected large wooden fences at some viewpoints to prevent tourists from gathering there to take selfies. However, the wall was dismantled following protests on social media.
Protesting local residents said more needed to be done to control the quantity and quality of tourists.
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