 "FILE - Tourists walk through Pompeii near the Villa of Mysteries in Italy. AP")
Italy’s Pompeii has decided to limit the number of tourists to 20,000 a day from next week to tackle overtourism and protect the historic site, which was buried under ashes in AD79.
The move comes after the heritage site recorded a whopping four million visitors over the summer. The entire civilisation in Pompeii was incinerated by a devastating fire after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The archaeological park’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said visitors to the main site now exceeded an average of 15,000-20,000 every day, and the new daily cap would prevent the numbers from rising further.
“We are working on a series of projects to lift the human pressure on the site, which could pose risks both for visitors and the heritage [that is] so unique and fragile,” Zuchtriegel said.
Another step that officials hope will gatekeep tourists is issuing personalised tickets that will include the full name of the visitor. From November 15, only 20,000 of such tickets would be released.
While the aim is not to keep history enthusiasts away from the legendary site, the park’s managers
are trying to encourage tourists to visit other ancient sites connected to Pompeii, including Stabiae, Oplontis and Boscoreale, by providing a free shuttle bus under the Greater Pompeii project.
“The measures to manage flows and safety and the personalisation of the visits are part of this strategy,” Zuchtriegel said. “We are aiming for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism and, above all, widespread throughout the territory around the Unesco site, which is full of cultural jewels to discover.”
In April, Venice became the world’s first large tourist city to charge people to enter, as part of a trial aimed at dissuading day trippers and due to return next year. The €5 (£4.15) levy, which applied on 29 peak days and ended in July, was also an emergency response by local authorities to avoid the Unesco heritage site being blacklisted.
With inputs from AP