Tourist Town That Inspired ‘Frozen’ Erects Fence in Bid to Stop Selfies
A picturesque Austrian town that is believed to have inspired Disney’s Frozen has erected a fence in a bid to stop tourists from taking selfies.
Last week, two wooden fences were constructed at the foot of the Salzkammergut Mountains in Hallstatt, Austria — partially blocking the view of the mountain town’s iconic selfie backdrop.
It is widely regarded that the picture-perfect landscape of Hallstatt was the inspiration for the kingdom of Arendelle in the Disney movie Frozen.
Since the rumors spread of the town’s connection to the popular film, Hallstatt has hosted over a million tourists per year — with many visitors eager to take a selfie with the famous scenery. On Instagram, there are over 830,000 posts for the hashtag #hallstatt.
A Fence Blocking The Famous View
The locals who reside in Halstatt have become increasingly frustrated by the barrage of tourists posing up for photos in the town’s quiet streets.
And last week, Hallstatt’s Mayor Alexander Scheutz erected wooden fences to literally block the view of the famous scenery and stop visitors from taking selfies. It was hoped that the barrier would prevent tourists from gathering in a particularly popular selfie spot and disrupting residents by making too much noise.
However, EuroNews reports that Hallstatt’s preventive measure was widely criticized online.
Due to the backlash on social media, the fence has since been removed. Hallstatt’s Mayor Scheutz has now said he wants to put up a banner at the selfie spot reminding tourists that people live in the area.
Hallstatt, a protected Unesco World Heritage site, has seen its visitor numbers soar since the release of Frozen in 2013. A replica of the small town was even built in Guangdong, China in 2011 after photos of the idyllic Alpine area went viral in East Asia.
Hallstatt has already introduced daily limits on the number of buses and cars that can enter the town and curb over-tourism.
Hallstatt is not the only European town that has taken preventative measures to stop tourists from taking selfies. In April, Italian holiday town Portofino introduced $300 fines for tourists who linger “too long” to take selfies in popular photography spots.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos and Wikimedia Commons.
