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Salzburg has begun implementing a summer ban on visitors entering its historic center by car, following a policy modeled after other car-filled European cities that are suffering from overtourism.
Authorities in Austria's fourth-largest municipal area said they hoped that "less traffic, more city" restrictions in July and August would reduce the number of vehicle entries by 1,000 per day.
As part of the campaign against traffic congestion, park and ride facilities are offering a day ticket that includes travel on local public transport for five people for €7.50.
" We don't want chaotic traffic situations like we saw last year. It targets day-trippers who drive from further afield. It's important to me that residents of the central Salzburg area and business-related traffic are not affected by this ," said the mayor, Bernhard Auinger, when he announced the measure in May.
Auinger said that tourists themselves, drawn by attractions such as Mozart's birthplace and the 17th-century Baroque cathedral, would also benefit from this policy.
"It's certainly much better than spending hours stuck in traffic. And it also makes life much easier for people who live and work in the city of Salzburg," Auinger added.
The mayor said that increasing complaints from residents about traffic during the summer months had prompted the city to take action.
"We practically let tourists drive into our living room ," he told the Salzburg24 news website.
Patrolling police officers will issue fines of up to 80 euros to any driver with license plates from outside the Salzburg region who enters the old town in the radius around the Staatsbrücke (state bridge) that crosses the Salzach River.
Exceptions will be granted for daily commuters, delivery vehicles, taxis and rental cars, as well as disabled visitors and hotel guests with a booking confirmation in the restricted area. German drivers from the neighboring Bavarian areas of Berchtesgaden and Bad Reichenhall are also exempt.
Heidi Strobl, from the local tourism board, said Salzburg's policy, approved by the city council in May, had taken a cue from the zona a traffico limitato (limited traffic zones) in Italian cities such as Rome, Florence and Pisa, as well as a ban in Dubrovnik, Croatia, after they were flooded with tourist vehicles during the summer months.
Salzburg, whose historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has just over 158,000 residents but records more than 3 million overnight stays each year. Last year's celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the classic film, shot in the Salzburg region, spurred an additional tourism boom.
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