tripscan

Fed-up Italian farmers set up mountain turnstiles to charge access to Instagram hot spots tripscanIf Carlo Zanella, president of the Alto Adige Alpine Club, had his way, travel influencers would be banned from the Dolomites.He blames them for the latest Italian social media trend, which has lured hundreds of thousands of tourists to the mountain range in northern Italy, with many traipsing across private land to get that perfect shot.In response to the influx, frustrated local farmers have set up turnstiles, where tourists must pay 5 euros (nearly $6) to access several “Instagrammable” spots, including the Seceda and Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks) mountain ranges.Photos showing lines of up to 4,000 people a day, have been popping up on social media in recent weeks. But rather than deter people from coming, the images have acted as a magnet.“The media’s been talking about the turnstiles, everyone’s been talking about it,” says Zanella. “And people go where everyone else goes. We’re sheep.”Italian law mandates free access to natural parks, such as the Alps and Dolomites, but the landowners who set up the turnstiles say they have yet to receive any official pushback from authorities.Georg Rabanser, a former Italian national team snowboarder who owns land in a meadow on Seceda, told the Ladin-language magazine La Usc he and others started charging tourists to cross their land to make a point.“So many people come through here every day, everyone goes through our properties and leaves trash,” he says. “Ours was a cry for help. We expected a call from the provincial authorities. But nothing. We only read statements in the newspapers. Gossip; nothing concrete. We haven’t even received warning letters. So we’re moving forward.”