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 principle highway 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 principle 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 resembling “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 day by day guests and a 5pm curfew for tour buses.
Hallstatt is a UNESCO World Heritage web site and has seen a growth in tourism in recent times. Before the pandemic it noticed roughly one million guests a yr.
Signs at a viewpoint encourage vacationers to be quiet
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Fed-up locals put up an “anti-selfie fence” earlier this yr, 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.
Hallstatt was rumoured to be one of many inspirations for Arendelle from the Disney movie Frozen
The recognition of Hallstatt was partly fuelled by a 2006 Korean TV sequence, Spring Waltz, which was shot there.
Six years later, a life-size reproduction of the village was opened within the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.