Mass tourism: “We feel like employees in a theme park”

The "overtourism" trap: Lauterbrunnen is flooded with people from all over the world because of the Staubbach waterfall. For many local residents, these tourists are a major inconvenience. SRF / Adrian Müller

Tourism has become a problem in Lauterbrunnen, a picturesque region in the Bernese mountains. Residents vent at their community meeting.

“We are in despair, the locals simply have no place left in Lauterbrunnen,” says one resident. The region is straining under the influx of tourists. This past summer season was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The municipality felt it was necessary for the residents to voice their concerns. The municipality organised a district meeting where people could vent their anger.

Tourist hot-spots lead to traffic jams

Tourists visiting for a day trip are a problem for traffic. They come mainly because of the Staubbach Falls, the highest free-falling waterfall in Switzerland. “They come by rental car, take pictures of the waterfall and then leave.” This leads to chaos on the roads. “I feel like I live next to a motorway, people drive in and out of the valley. It’s annoying,” complains a resident at the meeting.

Traffic often backs up through the valley. Is building a barrier a solution? “That would be desirable, but it is not feasible,” says community president Karl Näpflin. “For one thing, there is no legal basis that would allow for constructing a barrier. And additionally, it is simply too narrow in the valley.”

Intruders entering private residences

Along with the congested roads and fully packed car parks, some of the guests also behaved problematically. “People don’t move to the side on the pavement,” says one participant. A third of the resident complaints are about the rubbish strewn around everywhere.

Karl Näpflin also gives an account of previous events in his community: “Tourists played football in our cemetery and took photos standing and lying down between the graves.” There have even been incidents occurring in private homes: “Nowadays we have to lock the front door when you go out into the garden; if not strangers will suddenly be sitting on your toilet!”

The village priest Markus Tschanz sums up the concerns of many people: “We feel like employees in an amusement park. Even the local carpenter has become a tourist employee. We can’t escape it because we live here.”

Establishing code of conduct for tourists

As an observer during the community meeting, the helplessness of the residents is palpable. How does the community try to dampen the problems that tourism brings with it? They put up posters and flyers with codes of conduct. There are also authorities who regulate traffic.

Twelve portable toilet toilets have been set up around the community. However, they were then partly prohibited, as some of these toilets were not placed in the regulated and allowed zones. “It was not the goal, but for immediate measures we had to act illegally, just for a temporary amount of time,” says Karl Näpflin.

Housing shortage: a permanent problem

Many tourist resorts are aware of the problem. If most of the flats are rented out, the available apartments dwindle. Locals find it difficult and expensive to find a home. This problem is especially felt in the Lauterbrunnen region. Although second homes, or vacation homes, are no longer allowed to be built there, many existing flats are sold and then rented through platforms such as Airbnb and then no longer available to residents. The municipal council therefore asks people

“These are not permanent solutions. We have to implement educational campaigns before tourists come to the region. They have to be made aware of our rules and of what is appropriate behaviour before they come, that should be the only way they can stay in the region,” Näpflin says.

As a permanent solution, for example, admission with a ticket and barrier is planned for the Staubbach waterfall. Other solutions are to be worked out together with Jungfrau Railways, the largest tourism player in the region. However, Karl Näpflin was not able to say what these might look like in concrete terms after the district meeting.