Impossible not to surrender to the charms of Hallstatt.
When did Hallstatt begin its history towards the overtourism ? Did it when it entered the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997? Or in 2013 when the movie was released Frozen ?
From the tourism department of the town, located in the mountainous region of Salzkammergut in Austria , they tell us that they do not know why they are being associated in recent weeks with the Disney movie.
“On the topic of Frozen… we have been reading it for a few days but for the first time, so we also don't know where it comes from and where the media got this information. Maybe the city of Frozen looks a bit like Hallstatt, but this was not planned”, they stress to Traveler.es.
The truth is that a chain reaction in all the international media ensures it. It is not strange, considering that there is a replica of the town since 2011 in the Chinese province of Guangdong. But no one in the tourism department seems to know that the film was inspired by the town.
They defend that their fame comes from years ago. “Since 1997 our holiday region Dachstein Salzkammergut has been on the UNESCO world heritage list . As a result, this area and also Hallstatt became more and more famous. Tourism was increasing and many new shops, guest houses and tourist attractions were opened”, they point out from the Hallstatt tourism department to Traveler.es.
It has also had to see a strategy of communication and promotion of the region through social networks. Both from the institutional ones, as we can see in @visitdachsteinsalzkammergut, or in external accounts as @hallstattgram with 14 thousand followers.
More than 600,000 images appear under the hastag of #Hallstatt , the vast majority of Asian tourists. But the Austrian town was already famous at the beginning of the 19th century when it was "discovered" by writers and artists impressed by its fairy-tale landscapes. Although it has not been until recent years when visitors have become uncomfortable and difficult to manage.
Let us think that currently does not reach 800 inhabitants , and yet he receives some 10,000 daily visitors , some of them just looking for a photo and a walk through its typical streets, and arrived by bus or cruise ship.
That's why The city council poses a new challenge for 2020 , reduce the number of tourists to a third. Neighborhood problems, the higher cost of living (in homes and businesses), the lack of privacy for neighbors and a recent fire in a bus - without any injuries - are some of the main reasons.
“ We want to return to quality tourism . From May 2020 there will be a new system to reduce the number of buses and guests in Hallstatt. The buses will reserve a space in advance and then you can visit Hallstatt. Those who have a reservation in the city, whether it is to spend the night, a boat cruise, a visit to a museum, etc., will have preference”, they point out from the tourist office.
They will also manage the number of tourists digitally, very similar to what they have implemented in Kyoto.
“For the management of digital visitors we are working on an application that controls tourist flows . For example, if the application shows that there is no parking in Hallstatt, or that there is no capacity in the cable car at that time, it will show alternatives of what can be done in the area”, they explain from tourism.