Latest article re: limiting tourists in CT

I'll believe when I actually see it in practice. They can talk about, suggest, propose all kinds of solutions/methods for limiting tourists but I still don't see how it can work with actual living towns. These towns are not like the other isolated sites listed in the article that already limit tourist numbers - those are pretty easy to do by limiting actual physical access to them by boat. If they can actually come up with a fair, equitable, achievable way to do it, then more power to them.

Blame Steves and Obama.

This "latest" article is actually a zombie article that recycled the same piece of news that came out earlier this year in "La Repubblica" newspaper. It still quotes the same Mr. Vittorio Alessandro, President of the Cinque Terre National Park, who floated the idea in the news but who was discredited by the Governor of Liguria the same week. Mr. Alessandro has no jurisdiction over access to the towns via car or train. Access limitations can be applied only to the trails in the National Park, the only place where he had jurisdiction (except for the Via dell'Amore which is not in the jurisdiction of the park, but under the City of Riomaggiore). It is impossible to close the towns to those who want to access them by train, at most you can limit car traffic to residents only, but they are not going to shut down the Genoa-Rome railway. That would be ridiculous even to think.

I'm sure there's a lot of discussion taking place on this issue, and perhaps they will eventually arrive at some kind of solution. However this is not going to be as simple or easy as the recent articles have suggested, and building an App will be the least of their worries.

For one thing, getting any kind of agreement between various levels of the complicated and arduous Italian bureaucracy will take some time. As Roberto mentioned the trains will also have to be part of the solution. I suppose they could schedule trains from Genova to points south so that they don't stop in the Cinque Terre towns. Anyone travelling on the trains that will be stopping in the five towns could be issued some kind of numbered permit, with a special pass for residents. Of course that approach also has some difficulties in making it work.

I imagine there's a lot of "hand-wringing" taking place in the offices of various bureaucrats in that area, and I'm sure they don't want to use a heavy handed solution that will discourage people from even going there because it will be "too much trouble". I'm sure the local merchants, hotels, restaurants and other tourist-related businesses want the cash flow to continue.

Ken. The possibility of preventing regional trains from stopping in the 5 towns is a non starter. Local residents need to get to/from work and school (mostly in La Spezia and Sestri) and they would not accept a reduction of service especially because fewer regional trains would mean more crowded trains. Preventing non residents from boarding a regional train that goes, let's say, from La Spezia to Genoa or Turin, would be impossible to enforce. One could buy a train ticket from La Spezia to Genoa and get off at Monterosso with the locals. How is one going to stop that? With the Gestapo on the platform?

Roberto,

With trains going straight through, I was thinking more of the fast trains which in some cases already blast right through the C.T. without stopping. The Regionale trains could continue as-is for the locals or those going to the five towns. I was just trying to consider what kind of solutions might solve this problem. I have no idea how they're going to deal with this, but with crowds increasing every year (especially from cruise ships), some kind of solution will need to be found.

I am guessing most of you would be opposed or at least skeptical of any attempt to limit YOUR right to visit or stay at Cinque Terre.

On the other hand, if the authorities put severe limits on the hordes of day trippers that cruise operators or bus tour operators can bring to CT, I would bet most of you would be all for it.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/17/italy-to-impose-limits-on-visitors-to-cinque-terre-with-tourist-ticket-system

I have never had the pleasure of staying in CT. I only did a day excursion from a cruise ship. From what i have read, the major complaint about CT is the masses of day visitors during high season (of which I was one). It would be easy for the authorities to force the cruise and tour operators or commercial private drivers to put a limit on the number of people they can bring to the CT by limiting the number of tickets they can offer. If I am on a cruise stopping in Livorno and all the tix to CT are sold out, I will have no choice but to book an excursion somewhere else.

People with proof of pre-booked stays would automatically be permiited admissions.

The ticketing system could be limited to the busy season.

EDIT: All of the above is just speculation on my part as to what possibly could be done. I have now seen an article where pro-tourism local politicians would be opposed to any restrictions on the number of visitors. Quantity trumps quality.

Funpig, I agree with what you are saying EXCEPT: if limits are put on the number of cruise excursion tickets to Cinque Terre sold by a ship, then without doubt there will be privately run excursion operators waiting on the dock. The whole idea of limiting the number of tourists to CT is ludicrous, unless they put up a wall and a gate for each town and demand a fee to enter. Let's face it, the best time to have seen the Cinque Terre was about 10 years ago. Cross them off your bucket list ..... the rest of the world waits you.

Those who come and stay at least overnight are naturally limited by the number of accommodations. Day trippers could be easily limited by closing the roads for non-residents and not giving permits to cruise ships to anchor. To try to limit train passengers would be impractical if not impossible. And also as I read on this forum if some place becomes really crowded people avoid it; example is Prague. Some people will stop coming if the message about crowds get out.

funpig,

Each of the five towns have their own roads (Monterosso has two as I recall), so they'd have to put gates on all of them, with people checking for "permits". If the tour operators park their megabuses in Levanto or La Spezia and send everyone to the C.T. towns by train, that kind of negates the road checks.

There isn't going to be a simple answer to this problem.

Limiting cruise-ship docking isn't an answer: the expanded pier at La Spezia is part of the problem, and they won't refuse them if space is available. After all, not ALL of tours go to the CT; some go to Florence.

I don't have a good answer either but there may be a way to register tour operators/guides themselves with a limited number of permits handed out for any given day AND checked at the transport/parking hubs: it's fairly easy to recognize an organized group. Hefty fines and an abrupt about-face back onto the trains/buses out for those caught without a proper permit might deter cheating. It would involve hiring personnel for checks, though: maybe partially financed by the fines themselves?

Maybe there's also a way to limit group tours to licensed local guides only: none which are hired and paid by the cruise companies: some sort of centralized operation where the fees go directly back into the region. The office manages a finite amount of daily permits/fees with the guides/administration paid out of some of the fees, and the rest going to needed improvements such as additional toilet facilities, etc. I know that some of the complaints about cruise tours is that too much of the money doesn't feed back into local businesses/economies.

Just noodling. I'm not demonizing cruisers themselves but it's evident that there's an issue with ever-larger ships overloading locations not built to handle a dump of 3,000-4,000 passengers at a time. It's also curious that Venice is reportedly overrun with them yet the city is claiming that it's millions of dollars in debt? Something clearly isn't working.

What does Obama have to do with it.
Mike

It was a tongue-in-cheek, Mike.

I would build a "yuge" wall to stop tourists from the cruise ships.
When cruise ships send their people, they don't send their best to the Cinque Terre.
They are sending people that have lots of problems. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They are rapists.
Some of them, I assume, are good hikers.

Trump for mayor of Vernazza!

Roberto, your solution "trumps" all the others! LOL.

First belly laugh of the day!
Humor is a wonderful thing, innit?

Oh yes, indeed! Those last few posts really lightened my day. Thanks! I particularly like the idea of a "yuge wall...."