The black grouse is a good example, the animals are sensitive to disturbances. Henning Werth and his team from the Alpinium want to know exactly: At what times of the day are visitors in the habitats, what is it like during the mating season? The graduate biologist and deputy head of the Center for Nature Experiences in the Allgäu describes the task of keeping an eye on the influx of visitors in ecologically important areas as “model protection area management” – and intervening if necessary. The Alpinium has therefore installed 35 measuring points in the Allgäu Alps. It has now turned out that the number of visitors has returned to normal compared to the Corona years 2020 and 2021. The situation has also eased in Upper Bavaria and in the Bavarian Forest.
In some cases there have even been enormous declines, says Henning Werth for the Allgäu. At the Wertacher Hörnle, for example, there were 30,650 visitors in 2021, in 2022 there were only 18,200. That is a daily average of 50 instead of 89. At the Willersalpe in Hinterstein, the number of visitors fell by 30 percent, from 54 people to 44 during the day.
Only at so-called hotspots such as the Schrecksee, one of the most popular destinations, no significant decrease or increase in the number of visitors could be determined via the measuring points. The Schrecksee is the setting for numerous posts by bloggers and influencers on social media. “It’s one of the few areas where we can say there has to be a social media effect,” says Werth. However, here too the number of visitors on peak days is no longer as high as in the two previous years.
According to Alpinium and the Allgäu GmbH tourism organization, the reasons for the normalization are obvious: the borders are open again, locals are taking long-distance trips and the number of visitors is also shifting across the border to Austria. “It’s better distributed again,” says Simone Zehnpfennig from Allgäu GmbH. The rush in the Corona years was also due to the day visitors, since overnight stays were prohibited. The images of overcrowded parking lots and columns of mountain hikers are bad memories for many locals.
“Some areas were overrun,” emphasizes Werth. The statistics from the measuring points, which anonymously record the number of visitors using light barriers, are now valuable in order to be able to correctly classify the visitor pressure felt by the locals. There are numerous voices in the Allgäu who are now concerned about excessive tourism. “If we now look at the numbers, there is a gap between perception and the actual number of visitors per day,” says Werth. There can be no talk of overtourism.
The Alpinium also evaluates the numbers according to whether the visitors, for example with regard to the black grouse, are out at a time that is unproblematic for the animals. Then there may be no need for action. The insights into the flow of visitors also help the nature conservationists to get into conversation with excursionists and to bring targeted information material about behavior to the woman or man and thus to steer the visitors. The Alpinium is also still on the lookout for new technologies: recording streams of visitors via mobile communications has so far failed due to the lack of network coverage, especially in the middle regions of the Alps.
There was also some activity during Corona in Bavaria’s low mountain ranges, such as here at the Ochsenkopf. At the moment, however, people were waiting for snow there, as winter hiking takes place mainly in the countryside.
(Photo: Daniel Vogl/dpa)
In the Bavarian Forest National Park, the rush of visitors has also returned to normal. “2019, i.e. immediately before the corona pandemic, was our year with the highest number of visitors to date, with 1.4 million guests,” says National Park Director Franz Leibl. For eight years, the national park has had a sophisticated visitor monitoring system with numerous automated counting points on its grounds and in parking lots. That’s why Leibl and his team know exactly how many visitors are in the 24,000-hectare conservation area at what time and where.
“In the first year of Corona, we broke the 1.4 million record again” – despite the months of lockdowns. Even then, Leibl and his employees complained that many guests had little interest in the wild forest nature, but mainly because traveling abroad and almost all other leisure activities had been taboo for months. “Our visitor monitoring has confirmed the impression made at the time,” confirms Leibl. “The rush was concentrated on our tourist highlights.” So above all the area on the Falkenstein and on the Lusen, which you can climb comparatively easily, and the two national park centers with their animal enclosures and other attractions.
The “event guests”, as Leibl calls this type of visitor, have long since left. “In the meantime, holidaymakers and day-trippers who want to experience our original nature are coming again.” In the past two years, the national park has not quite been able to match the record levels of 2019 and 2020. “But we’re on the way back there now.” One thing has been fully confirmed for Leibl and his people during the corona pandemic. “In national parks and our other high-quality natural areas, sophisticated visitor management is required if nature is not to be harmed,” he says. “Best by rangers.” In other words, specially trained employees who are out and about in the area and not only inform hikers and other guests about the regulations, but also address misconduct. “We currently have six additional rangers across the EU,” says Leibl. “They’re worth their weight in gold.”
According to the Bavarian Forest National Park, the pure “event guests” have long since gone. Years ago, the national park itself provided attractions such as the treetop path near Neuschönau.
(Photo: Christian Rothbauer/Erlebnis Akademie AG/Treetop Path Bavarian Forest)
The district of Miesbach also relies on rangers, which sends around 30 freelancers to the site in addition to its two official rangers, depending on the season, day of the week and weather. Tegernsee and the mountains in the surrounding area have not only been a hotspot for excursions for many Munich residents since the pandemic, and they continue to do so. The really big rush also decreased here last year, says the area manager for the Mangfall Mountains, Florian Bossert – at least in absolute numbers. In his experience, two episodes remained. One is that many people are now out and about early in the morning or late in the evening. And on the other hand, the day-trippers are now everywhere. Even where nobody was on the road a few years ago, people are now following the tracks that others would have left on social media. Such supposed insider tips just don’t stay secret, says Bossert, who is therefore concerned about the retreat areas for black grouse, wood grouse, deer and chamois.
Due to his job, Oswald Pehel is more concerned with the image of the excursion destinations. The managing director of the Upper Bavaria Munich Tourist Association therefore says that during the pandemic there were only “sporadic overloading of parking spaces, traffic jams and conflict situations with residents” on peak days. Nevertheless, he also noticed that the situation in 2022 had “relaxed noticeably”, which Pehel also justified with the “Bavarian excursion sticker” developed in Upper Bavaria. Precise figures from the individual regions would probably not be available until February.