Overtourism already vexes other Italian areas like Rome, Florence, and Venice, often with damaging effects to local flora, fauna, and cultural heritages. The autonomous region of Alto Adige has introduced a limit on overnight visitors. Restrictions will be capped at 2019 levels, and a ban has been imposed on any new accommodation openings, unless another has closed and a new business would be its substitute.
Alto Adige borders Austria, and is one of Italy’s most popular tourist attractions. It is renowned for its sweeping natural landscape which is a gateway to the Dolomite mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the top skiing destinations in the world. Alto Adige is also home to one of the most famous and best-preserved prehistoric humans in the world – Ötzi the Iceman, a naturally mummified body of a local prehistoric man who died some 5,200 years ago. The Iceman’s body and his perfectly preserved clothes are on display in a museum in Bolzano, the region’s capital.
Arnold Schuler, head of tourism in the province, told CNN that the cap was to protect the region from overtourism. “The tourism sector is very important for us, for jobs and the economy, but we had reached the limit, so we took these measures to guarantee a better management of the flow of people, and to guarantee lodging for tourists,” he said.
The ban, which was enacted in 2022, caps nightly visitors at 2019 levels. The number of officially registered beds in 2019 was set to just under 230,000. The law now requires that business owners report to authorities how many guests they hosted in 2019, including any sofa beds that were not included in the official tally, by June 30 of this year. The official and complete 2019 numbers will mark the new limit, which cannot be exceeded.
“We reached the limit of our resources, we had problems with traffic, and residents have difficulty finding places to live,” said Shuler. He added that the law was also enacted to “guarantee the quality [of life] for locals and tourists,” which he says has been decreasing over the past decade.
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.