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The village with 800 inhabitants welcomes 10 thousand visitors in one day / Protest against mass tourism

2023-08-30 09:41:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The village with 800 inhabitants welcomes 10 thousand visitors in one day /

Over the past weekend, citizens of the village of Hallstatt in Austria protested mass tourism in the area by blocking the main road into the town.

Despite having a population of only 800, it sees over 10,000 visitors in a single day during the peak summer season, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

According to a Sky News report, on Sunday, locals blocked the main entrance to the village's tunnel in protest against tourism.

Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten said the tunnel was closed for nearly 15 minutes.

Carrying placards with slogans such as "Think of our children" and "Radical limits to mass tourism", about 100 people gathered for the protest.

Hallstatt residents demanded limits on the number of daily tourists and also a ban on tourist buses after 5pm local time.

This is not the first time that residents have called for action regarding mass tourism in the area. In May this year, residents of Hallstatt built a wooden wall to block views of the Alps and show their anger in this way.

The actions of the residents came as a protest against noise pollution and traffic. However, after a backlash on social media, the wall built by the residents was immediately removed.

The village's popularity rose significantly after its appearance in a superhit South Korean romance series in 2006.

Mass tourism has been among the most prominent problems of several other cities in other countries.

Previously, the residents of Venice have expressed their concerns about mass tourism in this city, which is recording low population figures. The main reason for this situation was considered mass tourism as the influx of visitors made it difficult for long-time residents to stay in this city.

According to the head of the organization Venessia.com, the Venetian population will decrease by 50 thousand by the end of this month, based on the civil status data.

"We've been warning about this for years ... we don't want to give up, but no administration has managed to reverse the trend. Tourism is a double-edged sword because you get money, but at the same time, you drive out all the activities and space for [residents],” Secchi told the Guardian.

At the same time, Barcelona previously introduced measures to manage the large number of groups going to this popular European destination./ CNA