As of: March 2, 2024, 12:30 p.m
By: Patrick Mayer, Kilian Bäuml
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South Tyrol is a country of longing for German holidaymakers.
But the behavior of some tourists causes anger and incomprehension among the locals.
Bolzano - Italy is a popular travel destination for German holidaymakers, South Tyrol in particular is a real tourist hotspot.
High demand has led to a significant increase in prices in recent years, for example in restaurants in ski resorts.
However, locals are often puzzled and annoyed by the behavior of some visitors, particularly amateur mountaineers and hikers in Alto-Adige, the Italian name for the autonomous province of South Tyrol.
Carlo Alberto Zanella, from Club Alpino Italiano (CAI), recently expressed in a media round his dissatisfaction with the behavior of some tourists who, in his opinion, often make incomprehensible mistakes and do not always behave appropriately.
Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol |
|
---|---|
Italian region: |
Trentino-Alto Adige |
Resident: |
around 530,000 |
Capital city: |
Bolzano (approx. 106,000 inhabitants) |
Area: |
7,400.43 km² |
well-known communities: |
Brixen, Bruneck, Meran, Kaltern |
Language groups: |
German, Italian, Ladin |
Between mountain idyll and tourist frustration: South Tyrolean Alpine Association criticizes the behavior of German holidaymakers
Zanella reported to the Italian media about an incident in the Klausner Hut: “It happened in the Klausner Hut that mountaineers, who for me are not real mountaineers, walked on the wooden floor with crampons and ruined it.”
He criticized the fact that some holidaymakers completely lose touch with the surroundings when they go on a mountain tour, which often leads to indifference.
As
Südtirol News
reports, Zanella was particularly annoyed by those mountain hikers who expect “hot showers or gourmet meals” in a refuge.
South Tyrol is a popular destination, especially for hikers and mountaineers.
© Imago
He gave another drastic example: The winter hut at the Überetscher Hütte in the South Tyrolean part of the Nonsberg Group, which is supposed to save lives in an emergency, is often used for parties.
“The empty alcohol bottles are lying around the area after the celebrations.
It is clear that such people are not real mountain lovers, but a few louts who only go to the mountains to collect a few likes on social networks,” reported the alpinist.
Zanella called for a change of course and explained: “In our own way, as CAI we try to sensitize as many as possible so that hikers learn respect for the mountains, but time and again some react with arrogance and indifference.”
He criticized the fact that some mountain tourists apparently lack the necessary education.
South Tyrol's land of longing: Locals criticize German tourists
Zanella is not alone in his criticism.
Recently, the organized fans of the Obermais football club caused a stir when they used a banner for the Ultras of the “Curva Sud Obermais” to describe German holidaymakers in South Tyrol as undesirable.
“Merano doesn’t need a vigilante, it needs more Piefke,” said the banner.
The term “Piefke” is occasionally used derogatorily for Germans in Austrian and South Tyrolean vernacular.
Obermais is a wealthy district of the well-known spa town of Meran in the Italian Adige Valley.
But many other regions of the country are also popular with tourists, and some experts even fear that Italy's tourism collapse will result from the rush of vacationers.
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