Some locals fear Olympic Games may eternally change Cortina

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — As the 2026 Winter Games come to a detailed, some individuals round Cortina are involved that the transformation their city underwent for the occasion could go away it modified eternally.

Cortina has maintained a inhabitants of about 5,500 for many years, which jumps to round 50,000 through the ski season.

Some locals have observed that, together with upgrades to Olympic venues and roads, a number of high-end companies have made the city their dwelling in anticipation of the video games.

“They are making everything luxury,” Rosella Devido, an worker at an out of doors footwear store, mentioned.

“Who knows if everybody can afford to come to the Cortina after the Olympics, if everything is five to seven stars, hotels and restaurants, maybe just for the elite.”

The principal buying sq. in Cortina is lined with many high-fashion retailers, that includes manufacturers comparable to Prada, Louis Vuitton and Ferragamo, amongst others.

While a lot of new motels have opened forward of the video games, development websites for extra are underway, with some promising opening dates in 2027.

“Cortina has always been the luxury destination. But also, normal people could come. Right now, a lot of five to seven-star hotels have come from nowhere,” Devido defined. “Everybody’s welcome. But we should be welcome too.”

Luca Bocchi was an Olympic swimmer for Team Italia within the 90’s. He later settled in Cortina, partly out of his love for the environment.

“It’s like a diamond Cortina,” Bocchi mentioned. “Now something happened that is not so good. As you can see in the mountain, they have built something that is not so good for us is wrong because they disrupt everything.”

Bocchi provides that he has nothing in opposition to the video games.

“I love the spirit of the Olympic Games,” he mentioned. “Sports is something that is really pure.”

He simply worries that with the modifications and a focus to Cortina, the quantity and kind of tourists to the realm could change, impacting the general livability and affordability of the city.

“I’m a little bit scared about that,” Bocchi mentioned. “I’m not sure the future could be better compared to the past.”

Estimates from organizers recommend some 2 million individuals visited the realm for the Winter Olympic Games throughout a number of communities that hosted occasions.