Italian tourist region imposes bed freeze

Created: 08/03/2022, 15:50

From August there will be the long-discussed upper bed limit for South Tyrol.

For the municipalities, this step has a significant impact on tourism.

The Italian province of South Tyrol has become increasingly popular with tourists in recent years.

No wonder, after all, the area has a lot to offer, from great nature to ski areas and culinary delights.

A major task for the future is therefore to keep the region worth living in and worth visiting.

In order to pave the way for more sustainable tourism, the South Tyrolean state parliament has now decided on an upper limit for tourist overnight accommodation.

For the municipalities, this means that they are no longer allowed to approve new beds, according to the local news portal "Südtirol News".

South Tyrol with the Dolomites is particularly popular with tourists.

© Vedran Galijas/Imago Images

Upper bed limit in South Tyrol: years of tug-of-war come to an end

There had been a long-standing tug-of-war among the governing parties over the bed freeze.

The topic of “sustainability” was repeatedly put up for discussion.

With a majority, the South Tyrolean People's Party and Lega agreed on the number of beds from 2019. This number amounts to exactly 229,088 guest beds, which can be increased by 10,000, for which existing rights already exist.

Further approvals will then no longer be granted.

In addition, only a maximum of 150 beds are allowed per accommodation facility.

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Important: Not only hotels, guesthouses and inns fall under these regulations, but also private and Airbnb providers.

For years there had been an exchange of blows between the government and the innkeepers' association HGV.

The latter saw a danger that there might not be a successor for certain gastronomic establishments, should there be a restriction on guest beds.

Only the area "Farm Holidays" could be exempted from the restriction.

South Tyrol: Popular with tourists

Can a popular holiday region become so sustainable?

With the limitation of the beds, South Tyrol is the first Alpine region with a tourism upper limit, so it is also an experiment.

According to the travel portal “travelbook”, South Triol has become more and more popular as a holiday region.

Shortly before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, there were almost 34 million overnight stays in the region.

South Tyrol offers variety for almost 8 million tourists a year.

Not only hikers get their money's worth in the nature parks.

It remains to be seen how the bed freeze from August will affect development in the region.