They arrive
by the busload and on ferries, many in pursuit of the perfect photograph for
Instagram, others seeking the transcendence of a fairy tale land.
Each year,
one million travelers visit Hallstatt, Austria, a picturesque 16th-century
hamlet that inspired the fictional kingdom of Arendelle in the Disney
animated blockbuster “Frozen”.
Hallstatt is embarking on a campaign to focus
on quality — not quantity — tourism, according to local officials. Tour buses,
which tally as many as 90 on the busiest days, will be capped at 50 and will
have to register with the tourism office. Groups that arrange lunches at local
restaurants, sign up for boat cruises or visit Hallstatt’s famous salt mines
will be given preference.
Visitors,
too, will be asked to stay more than two hours, said Michelle Knoll, office
manager for Hallstatt’s tourism board. The goal is to get people to spend time
and money in Hallstatt’s restaurants and shops.
“Many
visitors only have a short time and only come to take some pictures,” Ms. Knoll
said.“The number of tourists is simply too much.”
Elizabeth
Becker, the author of “Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and
Tourism,” said that tourists should manage their enthusiasm after seeing exotic
locales in movies and on television. “Even nice
people start to act like barbarians,” she said of overcrowded tourist spots.
That’s
particularly true in communities that are ill-equipped to handle the tons of
additional garbage that tourists bring with them. Then there is the surge in
water usage, Ms. Becker said.
It’s
especially troublesome if there are not enough hotels, bathrooms and grocery
stores to handle the crowds. She noted that even established tourist
destinations, like Dubrovnik, Croatia, which saw a flood of visitors with the
popularity of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” buckle at first when the large cruise
ships arrive.
Hallstatt,
a UNESCO World Heritage site, was popular before the release of “Frozen,”
particularly among Asian tourists. But Hallstatt’s prominence grew with the
movie and the ascendance of Instagram.
Last year,
Harper’s Bazaar named Hallstatt one of the 10 most “Instagrammable” cities in
the world. The hashtag #Hallstatt has more than 618,000 posts. One Instagram
account dedicated to the village, @hallstatt_gram, has more than 16,000 followers.
Its tagline: “Hallstatt is awesome.”
Sure, it
may be awesome. But Hallstatt is overburdened too, according to Ms. Knoll. “Hallstatt doesn’t need so many tourists,” Ms.
Knoll said, “but rather those who really enjoy the time.”
From The New York Times (edited)
