Dubbed the ‘most Instagrammable town in the world’, the once sleepy village of Hallstatt, in Austria, is begging tourists to stay away after being swarmed with selfie-takers and drone pilots.
So, when does “doing it for the Gram” become too much?
The 780 locals of the beautiful village of Hallstatt are blaming Instagram for destroying their magical destination.
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The real-life Arendelle
Image: thetravelergene / Instagram
Hallstatt is tucked beneath the Salzkammergut mountains in Austria and was listed as UNESCO world heritage site in 1997.
The fairytale village started to attract crowds after it appeared on a South Korean travel show in 2006 and it started to boom after being linked to the fictional town of Arendelle, from the hit Disney movie, Frozen.
Since then, up to 10,000 tourists from across Asia have flocked to the lakeside hideaway every day, with up to a million visitors a year.
Hallstatt now has six times more tourists per capita than Venice.
The Mayor, Alexander Scheutz, has begged the hordes to stay away and has even closed the roads to put the tourists off visiting.
“Hallstatt is an important piece of cultural history, not a museum. We want to reduce numbers by at least a third, but we have no way of actually stopping them.”
Alexander Scheutz, Mayor of Hallstatt
However, some of the locals are enjoying having the tourists around; some even calling the town a gold mine.
With hotel rooms costing €300-€400 and public toilets costing €1, it sure adds up!
Responsible tourism
Yes, we all love to visit these stunning destinations and snap beautiful photos from our travels, but we must be mindful when doing so.
Respecting the locals is incredibly important.
After all, isn’t being completely present in the moment, enchanted by the scenery and ambiance, what travel is all about?
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