FILE - Tourists walk through Pompeii near the Villa of Mysteries in Italy, March 20, 2015. – Photo: AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File
Another Italian tourist site has decided to regulate its hefty traffic – this time the buried city of Pompeii, which is introducing a visitor limit of 20,000.
The move follows one by the city of Venice, whose residents have long complained about being overrun by tourists. Earlier in the year it became the first city in the world to charge an entrance fee: €5 (RM23.50), which will eventually double.
At Pompeii, now an archaeological park in which visitors can learn about the victims of the Vesuvius eruption, tourists flock to the attraction - one of Italy's most popular - by the hordes.
By instituting the 20,000 daily visitor limit, management says it wants to control the masses of visitors - which reached a record 4 million this summer, with the park recording some 36,000 visitors on some days.
Apart from the visitor cap, the park will be introducing personalised tickets. Both measures started recently.
The city at the foot of Vesuvius was covered by ash, mud and lava in 79 AD after several volcanic eruptions. The preserved remains of death and devastation provide insight into life at that time to this day.
"We are working on several projects to reduce the pressure of people on the site, which can pose a danger both to people and to the unique and fragile cultural heritage," said the German director of the park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel. "We aim for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism," he added. – dpa
