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Where in Austria do locals ‘hate’ tourists?

Salzburg implements a tourism concept to limit day-trippers, a restaurant owner in Carinthia bans tourists from his dining tables, and locals in Hallstatt build a wall to hinder tourists from taking selfies, blaming them for lowering the quality of life for residents in the area.

Published: 19 April 2024 12:46 CEST
Where in Austria do locals 'hate' tourists?
Tourists stand on their segway boards in front of the Hofburg Palace as they explore Vienna. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Austria is recognised as the world’s most overcrowded country, with more than three tourists for every permanent resident of the country.

In some parts of Austria, the high number of tourists has become a matter of concern and has created dislike among the locals.

Fences, blocked tunnels and restaurant bans 

The small-town Hallstatt of just 750 residents in Salzkammergut, sees about a million visitors per year, which is something that the locals are not always able to tolerate.

Last year, placard-waving locals blocked the tunnel into Hallstatt and also created a fence to block the views from the city, making it hard for tourists to take selfies at one of the most popular viewing spots.

Carinthia, in the south of Austria, also gained attention for tourist scepticism when a restaurant owner introduced a ‘locals only’ policy during last summer’s peak season, banning tourists from entering. He was accused of racism but defended his actions by stating that the restaurant was too busy to serve and welcome everyone.

The restaurant had also previously banned other groups of people, such as “Arabs, vegans, and hippies”, as they expressed it. During winter 2023, the restaurant announced in an Instagram story: “This is how the Peppino team is starting the new year. We would like to inform you all that our restaurant will be closed on January 16th, 2023, and will reopen on January 19th, 2023, with 6 tables reserved for our regular guests and locals”.

READ ALSO: MAP: Austria’s 12 World Heritage sites you have to visit at least once

Strategies to control tourism impact in Salzburg and Vienna

In larger cities such as Salzburg and Vienna, certain measures are being taken to control the impact of tourists.

Last July, Salzburg experienced its busiest month ever, with a record of 3.68 million hotel stays throughout the state. However, tourists are not always warmly in Mozart’s birth city, with reports of some locals openly swearing at tour guides in the street.

Salzburg wants to limit tourists from making shorter visits. The city’s head of tourism, Christine Schönhuber, says that Salzburg has no strategy for “quality tourism” and that “mass tourism” in the city is out of control. The tourism strategy until 2025 is under revision to prioritise overnight guests and ease the impact of day trippers, with suggestions including restrictions on souvenir shops, closing some streets to cars, and considering closing the bus terminal at the city’s Mirabellplatz to day-tripping companies.

The city of Vienna has also implemented certain measures to regulate the impact of the number of tourists. The city has stated its intention to promote alternative attractions and neighbourhoods, encouraging tourists to explore areas beyond the city centre.

Two tourists looking at a map of the city in front of a bookstore in Salzburg. (Photo by AFP)
 

New survey about attitudes towards tourism

Even if tourism acceptance in Austria is generally high, it has seen a decline, particularly in the most touristic regions of the country. The growing scepticism is influenced partly by concerns about labour shortages and environmental impact.

State secretary for tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler from The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) aims to survey more than 10,000 people annually about their attitudes towards tourism.

While in tourist hotspots such as Hallstatt, local scepticism towards tourist masses is growing, elsewhere, people would like to see more visitors. Kraus-Winkler intends to improve this unbalanced tourism with an “acceptance offensive,” aiming to convince the locals of the advantages that tourism brings and to prevent frustration with tourists.

Additionally, she plans to provide regional decision-makers with a “toolbox” of solutions for addressing emerging imbalances in tourism. Moreover, a funding call is planned to support affected regions in developing concepts for their challenges. The goal is to achieve a balanced tourism in all regions. 

READ NEXT: 6 great alternatives to Austria’s overcrowded tourists hotspots

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
Reader question: How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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