New Cinque Terre Hiking Restriction

Interesting, Mike.

At the same time, some notices on the park's website seem to indicate that they've already been trying to stem the flow on the SVA (the open "Blue" sections between Corniglia & Vernazza, Vernazza & Monterosso) with human regulators during recent holidays.

A couple of those:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Edettaglio.php?id=47413

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Edettaglio.php?id=47091

It seems so: apparently the reason the story has popped up is the new QR code aspect and the electronic counting. Another account referenced a quota of 800 last year, which must have been done manually and was not publicized in any material I saw.

Well, we'll have to see what transpires, eh? Good of you to post the heads up, Mike.

I'm skeptical about this line:

The Park believes that this change will allow them to predict crowding
so that hikers can be directed to other trails

Yep, there are other trails but many of the those are longer, more time-consuming and/or strenuous. Some of the mob coming specifically for the SVA may be willing to take those on as substitutes but my guess is that most of them won't, and some of them shouldn't (I saw a fair amount on the "Blue" who were struggling). Time constraints could be another barrier if there's a train or boat to catch. I could be wrong, though.

Some who shouldn't indeed. There was a local PSA story from the Park recently that said 50% of Italian hikers and 40% of stranieri hikers in the CT were not properly equipped - specifically footwear. Turns out flip flops, among others, are not recommended for hiking - who knew?

I expect the trail restrictions are going to be a "work in progress" and and these may change depending on how well they work this year. This may improve the overcrowding on the Sentiero Azzurro trails, but won't help the overcrowding in the towns.

This may improve the overcrowding on the Sentiero Azzurro trails, but
won't help the overcrowding in the towns.

Sadly true, Ken.

Turns out flip flops, among others, are not recommended for hiking -
who knew?

I'm not surprised, Mike. We've seen any number of posts from people saying that they "wanted to walk the trail"? While they may be using the term loosely, the "walk" word sort of begs for further education, hmm?

To add to Kathy's comments.....

"Turns out flip flops, among others, are not recommended for hiking - who knew?"

I've seen numerous people using cheap rubber flip-flops on the trails over the years, usually those from the "younger" age group. Some of them move along at a fairly good clip, so I suspect there have been more than a few injuries, from "stubbed toes" to sprained ankles. Some people never seem to consider things like that.