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Quaint Austrian Village Overrun by Frozen Fans

Halstatt, Austria.
Halstatt, Austria. Photo: Sven Hansche/Getty Images/EyeEm

Swarms of Frozen fans are descending upon a quaint Austrian village, seemingly because they believe the picturesque hamlet looks like the fictional kingdom in the 2013 Disney blockbuster. And, according to the New York Times, the locals can’t take it anymore.

Every year, 1 million people inundate the hamlet of Hallstatt — a significant number for a village with a population of 780. While the Times doesn’t break down how many of those visitors are there because they think Hallstatt resembles the kingdom in Frozen, the report suggests that percentage is significant.

“Many visitors only have a short time and only come to take some pictures,” a representative for Hallstatt’s tourism board told the Times. “The number of tourists is simply too much.”

Per the Times, this influx of tourists is disrupting locals’ lives. According to local news reports, some churches have had to hire bouncers to turn away tourists from walking into funeral services. A reporter for Business Insider who visited the village last year also noticed a number of signs instructing tourists that they couldn’t use drones, which suggests that was once a problem.

But it’s a new year, and Hallstatt has a plan to get the problem under control. In an attempt to cut the number of visitors by one-third in 2020, local officials are reducing the number of tourist buses allowed to drive through the village; additionally, the tourism board will soon start encouraging visitors to stay longer than two hours, in the hopes that travelers will stop by and support Hallstatt’s restaurants and stores.

At least the tourists aren’t taking evocative photos in front of the site of a nuclear catastrophe, I guess?

Quaint Austrian Village Overrun by Frozen Fans