No selfies, please: Dolomites push again towards overtourism forward of Games 

ROME, Jan 15 (Reuters) – As Italy prepares to host the Winter Olympics subsequent month, Alpine communities are sounding the alarm over social media-driven tourism that’s reworking sacred landscapes into selfie backdrops and straining the delicate mountain ecosystem.

The Games will probably be primarily based in Milan and in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a city nestled among the many jagged limestone peaks of the Dolomites — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — with extra occasions held within the close by localities of Predazzo, Tesero and Anterselva.

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Organisers argue that an Olympics primarily based largely on present venues may have a restricted influence on the surroundings, whereas leaving upgraded amenities and stronger native economies.

But some native officers and environmental teams counter that the worldwide highlight dangers accelerating a troubling development: overtourism fuelled by Instagram and TikTok, pushed each by particular person customers and promotional campaigns. They warn that once-quiet locations such because the Seceda summit and Lake Sorapis have already been remodeled into viral hotspots overwhelmed by guests.

Reinhold Messner, the Italian climber who made the primary solo ascent of Mount Everest, has pointed the finger at influencers.

“They attract people who know nothing about the mountains. They arrive by car, park wherever they want, and take photos. They bring only noise, traffic and aggression,” he stated.

A 2023 Apple advert that includes Seceda’s dramatic ridgeline helped spark a wave of tourists. By final summer time, pictures of lengthy queues on the cable automobile station – with vacationers holding smartphones and parasols as an alternative of mountain climbing gear – had gone viral.

Geotagging has equally remodeled Lake Sorapis, whose turquoise glacial waters now make it probably the most photographed websites within the Dolomites.

“A certain style of communications sometimes gets out of control,” Cortina Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi advised Reuters, noting that on peak days as much as 2,000 folks can collect across the lake, diminishing the customer expertise.

ANCIENT CORAL REEFS UNDER PRESSURE

The Dolomites are remnants of historic coral reefs that fashioned 250 million years in the past beneath a tropical sea. Fossils of ammonites and dinosaur footprints dot the area.

The mountains’ pale dolomite rock creates a phenomenon referred to as enrosadira, the place peaks glow pink and orange at dawn and sundown, a spectacle now extensively shared on-line.

Cortina has hosted the Games earlier than. The 1956 Winter Olympics, the primary ever to be broadcast internationally on tv, had a long-lasting financial influence in town.

“The construction of new sports facilities…, and the opening of ski lifts helped strengthen the resort’s appeal and better balance the summer and winter seasons,” wrote Andrea Goldstein in his e-book Cortina 1956.

This time, nonetheless, the Games come after a decade by which mountain tourism in Italy has tripled, fuelled partially by regional social media campaigns that closely promoted the Dolomites’ most breathtaking views.

According to a research by The European House Ambrosetti assume tank, the Games will entice an extra 9 million guests to the 5 provinces internet hosting competitions – Milan, Belluno, Bolzano, Sondrio and Trento – between 2027 and 2030.

Thomas Benedikter, director of South Tyrol’s POLITiS civic schooling centre, has warned that the inflow dangers exhausting water assets and degrading the Dolomites’ most beneficial asset: the panorama itself.

“Artificial snowmaking and hotel water use compete with agriculture, industry, and households,” he stated. “Hotels, wellness centres, and ski infrastructure consume space and scar the scenery, the true capital of tourism, too often forgotten.”

LOCAL INFLUENCERS RETHINK THEIR ROLE

As tensions rise, a rising variety of locals are pushing again. Overcrowding has led to erosion of trails and elevated littering, and a few residents have begun staging protests.

In the Gardena Valley, a farmer put in a 5 euro turnstile on a path to protest vacationers trampling his land. The same backlash erupted within the Funes Valley, the place a photogenic church turned a social media sensation.

“A taxi driver told me he had just dropped off a tourist who wanted a selfie at that small church – an 80-kilometre (50 mile) round trip from Bolzano,” stated Simonetta Nardin, editor-in-chief of Salto, a web-based journal primarily based within the metropolis.

“Places that were once part of long hiking tours have become drive-up destinations, visited just to snap a photo.”

The criticism is prompting reflection even amongst native influencers.

“I don’t believe it’s a hundred influencers causing overtourism — most of the pressure comes from tourism agencies,” content material creator Arianna Nutte stated in a podcast. “But we are complicit.”

She added that some mountain guides have begun asking hikers to signal non‑disclosure agreements: guests might take photographs, however they need to not reveal the place they had been taken.

Another out of doors content material creator, Matteo Perani, says he has stopped sharing precise places to keep away from drawing crowds to fragile areas.

Environmental teams, in the meantime, are calling for more durable guidelines: restrictions on new ski lifts, site visitors limits on Alpine passes, and caps on resort development.

Cortina’s mayor has proposed restricted site visitors zones with cameras to observe and handle customer flows. At Lake Sorapis, authorities are contemplating making a small parking zone with a hard and fast variety of areas – as soon as it fills, entry can be denied, encouraging guests to discover much less crowded places.

“We must manage overtourism by ensuring parking and services so that influx does not lead to the collapse of the area,” he stated.

“When posting on social media people must understand that certain areas cannot absorb hordes of visitors.”

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