There’s no denying that it can be somewhat of a balancing act for locations that are tourist hotspots. The money that comes in from tourist visits helps to fuel the local economy and keep taxes low. But the crowds can also serve as an annoyance and an impediment to a high quality of life. Deciding how to balance these two competing viewpoints can be a bit tricky. One town in Austria has apparently gotten fed up with the number of tourists that come to the villages to take selfies and has chosen to put up a fence blocking at least some of the views.
Halstatt, Austria – backdrop for the movie Frozen?
The town of Halstatt, Austria is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and many people believe that it is the inspiration for the mountain villages featured in the Disney movie Frozen.
The picturesque Alpine village is a magnet for tourists, who come to see the beauty and also (of course) to take selfies. The town has a population of around 800, but according to CNN, may see over 10,000 tourists per day in peak travel season. The town is trying to redefine itself to focus on “quality tourism”, and one of the ways they have attempted to do that is to erect a fence at one of the best spots where people take selfies. The idea was that if people couldn’t “do it for the ‘Gram”, they might decide to go elsewhere.
According to the CNN article, the fence was only a pilot project and intended to be a temporary measure. Personally, I can’t see how this would be likely to work – I imagine people will either find a way around it or damage the fence over time. And that is of course setting aside the fact of whether it even makes sense in the first place.
The Bottom Line
The town of Halstatt, Austria, which many people believe is the inspiration for the Disney movie Frozen, has put up a fence intended to block people from taking selfies and other pictures. Their hope was that the fence would deter people from stopping by just to take selfies of their picturesque mountain village.
What do you think about this “selfie-blocking” fence? Do you think it will work to keep tourists out? Leave your thoughts in the comments below
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I think the ‘selfie’ point should be at the top of a cliff, and no fence/wall please. I want a steady feed of Darwin-Award-eske selfie stories to cheer me up on the morning.
I can certainly understand this. We visited the island of Santorini once. We did not see one local. The number of boats arriving and the buses taking them to the top of the island was insane. People walking all over the place and between and outside all the homes, trying to get the best view and experience the island, even for a couple of hours and then getting onto the bus to go back down to the boat. It is non stop. There must be no peace for the locals. Imagine yourself trying to live like this.