Cornelia Vospernik, Josef Manola and Katharina Wagner report from Italy, Spain and Greece – on May 3rd at 9:20 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – A lonely beach at the end of an idyllic fishing village, undiscovered sights or adventurous hiking trails in deserted mountains? For most of us, the reality of vacation – especially in high season – is different. With the end of the pandemic, the phenomenon of mass tourism has returned, with all its problems for travelers and locals. The current figures show that there will be record bookings again this year. And apart from all the protests, many of the holiday hotspots are partly dependent on tourism. Shouldn’t we urgently rethink our travel habits? For the current issue of the ORF correspondent magazine “WeltWeit” on the topic “Holiday 2.0. Back in mass tourism?” Cornelia Vospernik, Josef Manola and Katharina Wagner report on Friday, May 3, 2024, at 9:20 p.m. on ORF 2 from Italy, Spain and Greece:
In Italy, Cornelia Vospernik is looking at whether entrance fees and online reservations in the tourist magnet Venice can curb the number of visitors. From April 25th, the long-announced fee for day tourists came into force. And in Rome, Vospernik plunges into the chaos of construction sites. The capital is preparing for the “Holy Year” of 2025 and with it even more visitors than usual. Already there are almost only souvenirs available to buy in the center. More and more residents want to move away because everything is littered and overcrowded.
In Spain, Josef Manola travels to Madrid and Barcelona to find out how the return of mass tourism is affecting the lives of locals. Did the city administration’s plan to make tourism more “friendly” work? Numerous experts are already saying that the success of tourism has triggered a new housing crisis. Spain has far too few social housing and rental prices are exploding. Fewer and fewer people are finding affordable accommodation, while the number of tourist accommodations is constantly increasing. The call for government regulation in the country is becoming louder and louder.
In Greece, Katharina Wagner meets residents and activists who want to preserve the authenticity of the Aegean holiday resorts. After the slump during the pandemic, the country recorded a new record of 32 million visitors in 2023. Many of the Greek islands have been greatly changed by tourism, but not the small island of Hydra. Strict building regulations and a ban on cars and bicycles have ensured that the situation here has remained almost unchanged for decades. A rethink is also beginning elsewhere in the country, with a law recently passed in parliament that severely restricts the commercial use of beaches this season.