The charming austrian mountain town of Hallstatt is a popular tourist destination especially for asian visitors, and in the high season, usually about 10,000 people each day to visit the mountain town of just 800 residents.
But this year is all because of Covid-19-the epidemic is quite different. Here are no tourists in the winding streets of Hallstatt.
It writes the BBC.
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16. march closed Austria down because of coronaviruses, and therefore, it was also the end of foreign tourists in Hallstatt, which has been an upheaval for the 800 residents.
– It was like living in a ghost town, says Sonja Katharina, resident of Hallstatt, to the BBC.
– It was intimidating, quiet and calm. There were no cars, no buses and no tourists. We could even hear the swans swim, she says.
To the media she says that she was shocked that it suddenly might not get tourists to the city, but she has since enjoyed the freedom it has given. Now can for example run through the city’s much-visited street, Seestraße, on the bike. The street of Hallstatt’s most photographed street, and 4000 tourists usually go through the street every day in high season.
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Hallstatt is also known for its quaint streets. Photo: Colourbox
– The positive is that we now have had the time to talk with each other at a distance, of course. We don’t need to hurry, and you learn to think about what is important in life, says Sonja Katharina.
Tourism has grown explosively in the beautiful city. A decade ago, visited the approximately 100 tourists every day. Now, before Covid-19-the outbreak, the city has over a million overnight guests every year.
In the summer months there are many tourists from Asia, the US and the Uk, while autumn and winter is especially popular with tourists from nearby countries.
One of the other local residents who also enjoy that pace for a while is screwed down in the city, is the musician Gerhard Hallstatt.
– the Decline in tourism occurred more or less unexpectedly. Suddenly Hallstatt returned to its roots, he says.
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Hallstatt is a Unesco world heritage site. Photo: Colourbox
even Though the residents enjoy the fact that there are fewer tourists in their city, it also provides cause for concern, because tourism, by nature, is an important industry in the city, where many of the residents are employed in the sector.
Hallstatt has always been a hotspot for tourists, so many people have lost their jobs or had reduced working hours, says Kurt Regier, adm. the director of the Hallstatt’s famous salt mine.
– It feels not to have gotten the old city back, because our old town has always been filled with tourists, a situation we love, he says.
Hallstatt is so popular among chinese tourists, in Guangdong has been built, a copy of the city in the size of 1:1.
Local tourists are now in connection with the re-opening of Austria started to be able to visit the beautiful city.
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