Tourism is usually considered a boost to local economies but residents of some of Switzerland’s most popular destinations don’t see it quite that way.
Popular regions like Iseltwald and Lauterbrunnen, both in the Bernese Oberland, are among Swiss communities struggling with the consequences of mass tourism — including traffic jams and general overcrowding.
This is especially the case during the summer holidays, but hordes of tourists flock to well-known spots all year round, disturbing the peace of local residents.
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The consequences of ‘overtourism’
According to media reports, “research distinguishes between direct effects such as traffic jams, endless queues, and overcrowded buses or trains, on the one hand, and more diffuse effects such as noise or waste.”
But that’s not all: according to Adrian Müller, tourism researcher at the University of Bern, mass tourism also drives up rents, and leads to the disappearance of local infrastructure in favour of tourist venues.
These negatives are especially burdensome on small communities, where visitors sometimes outnumber the locals.
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‘Stay away’
Some places are already taking measures such as access restrictions and entrance fees, with others considering measures to curb the influx of visitors as well.
Iseltwald, for instance, had introduced a 5-franc fee for taking selfies on the overcrowded village pier, and set up a ‘booking’ system for tourist buses so they don’t all arrive at the same time.
In Lauterbrunnen, authorities are charging visitors arriving by car a daily fee of between 5 and 10 francs. The move is part of efforts to reduce congestion in the small village.
Then there is Lungern, a tiny municipality of just over 2,000 people, located in canton Obwalden.
As one resident put it, tourists “come with their suitcases for a few hours, walk through the village and then disappear again. So tourism hardly brings us any economic benefit.”
But that is not the main complaint the locals have.
Some tourists from Asia invade the privacy of local residents by not only walking, uninvited, into their gardens, but sometimes into their homes as well.
To help locals keep visitors away from their homes, the commune started to distribute signs to all residents who request them, warning outsiders to stay away from their properties.
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National strategy
On a national level, the country’s tourism authority, Switzerland Tourism, recommends a better distribution of visitor flows to relieve the most popular (and most visited) locations.
What does this entail?
The organisation is promoting ‘off-the-beaten-track’ destinations as alternatives to mass-tourism places.
Accordingly, the tourism body’s campaign, called ‘The magic of beautiful places’, deliberately focused on 80 less frequented destinations.
