Lots of Aixois visit Italy so I thought this news from The Guardian would be of interest. The article starts:
Italy plans to severely reduce the number of tourists visiting the Cinque Terre Unesco world heritage site this summer because the rugged coastal area risks being wrecked by coach parties and visitors travelling there on cruise ships.
Once remote, one of the Cinque Terra villages
This is tragic. The five little villages seemed untouched by the 21st century when we visited back in 2007. Only accessible by a couple of torturous roads, visitors moved between the communities by boat, or by train or by hiking over the hillsides.
Apparently residents are now saying that day-trippers from cruise shops have ‘overwhelmed their communities’. This year, no more than 1.5m visitors will be let in, a massive drop from the 2.5 million visitors in 2015. So how will this work?
Roads are being fitted with counting devices. Access will be closed once a
Boats provide communication between the villages
certain number has been reached. Tickets will be sold online and there will be an app to show which of the villages are most congested.
According to the article, one cause of this sharp increase in numbers is the fact that cruise companies are adding such destinations in Italy to avoid other Mediterranean ports eg Tunisia, following attacks on visitors.
It was such a tranquil spot where time seemed to stand still. Yet another case of tourists (and that’s all of us) spoiling the very beauty that we came to admire.
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