Cinque Terre Park authorities may limit the number of visitors to the area beginning this summer. The (for many, shocking) announcement was made this week by Vittorio Alessandro, president of the Cinque Terre National Park, citing the need for a rationalization of tourism flows in order to protect the fragile environment of the Cinque Terre and shield local residents from the effects of mass tourism.
“We’ll be criticized for this,” said Alessandro to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, “ but the park must have an educational mission too. Our goal is to reduce the number of visitors in a sustainable manner, otherwise the area will eventually empty out.”
Every year, the Cinque Terre, a UNESCO recognized site, are visited by 2.5 million tourists, 1 million too much according to park authorities: the tiny villages and coastal trails cannot take them anymore. The burden has been made harsher by the ever increasing number of cruise ship passengers disembarking at the nearby port of La Spezia for day trips to the area, a number that is expected to increase. Local residents complain they cannot cope with this mass influx anymore. In addition, the ecosystem of the Cinque Terre itself is at risk.
The idea is to equip the Cinque Terre paths with devices to measure the number of people heading to the villages; once a certain number has been reached, access will be closed. An app using a “traffic light” system - red for packed, yellow for busy and green for accessible - would show which villages are most congested. If a path is sold out, visitors would have to postpone their visit to the next available date. The system is to be introduced this summer.
A second proposal would introduce tickets for the entire area. Tickets would be sold online ahead of time, and dedicated trains, just for tourists, would be launched; those without a ticket would not be allowed to board the train.
Predictably, these proposals have already triggered controversy and disapproval; on the other hand, measures must be taken to protect the Cinque Terre delicate environment.
