Municipality must react Why thousands are suddenly making a pilgrimage to a small village in Aargau
When the cherry trees blossom in the Fricktal valley in Aargau, thousands of visitors flock to Gipf-Oberfrick - and present the small municipality with huge challenges.
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- The Chriesiwäg in Gipf-Oberfrick attracts thousands of visitors during the blossoming season
- The municipality has created parking spaces and organizes a parking service
- Despite great effort, the tourists bring in hardly any financial income
The cherry blossom in Fricktal in the canton of Aargau has become a magnet for visitors in recent years. The popular Chriesiwäg in Gipf-Oberfrick in particular has become the main attraction, as SRF reports. Hundreds of people throng through the blossoming orchards on sunny spring days - a scene that attracts not only Swiss guests, but also visitors from all over the world.
"White trees, blue skies, green meadows - spring!" enthuses Sandra Riedo from Fribourg. And Yao Chun from China, who lives in Zurich, is also enthusiastic about the "beautiful nature".
But the success has its downsides. Mayor Verena Buol Lüscher reports up to 1500 people on the circular route at the same time - an enormous burden for the small village with just under 4000 inhabitants.
To curb the chaos, a meadow was quickly converted into a parking lot and a parking service was organized. This is because many visitors underestimate their stay: "Everyone thinks they are only there for half an hour. But it turns into four hours," explains Buol Lüscher.
Economic benefits manageable
The farmers along the path also do their bit. They deliberately mow small seating islands in the grass to prevent tourists from criss-crossing their fields. They receive a small amount of compensation from the municipality for their efforts.
Despite the onslaught, the economic benefit for the municipality remains manageable. Although some farmers along the trail sell products such as apple juice, this is not "big business", says Buol Lüscher. Nevertheless, the Chriesiwäg is good advertising - for local agriculture and for Gipf-Oberfrick as an attractive place to live between Basel and Zurich.
Many visitors are surprised by the crowds. "There are a lot more people than expected," says Zita Süess from Wauwil. Others, like Prem Pandiarajan from India, take the rush in their stride: "There are lots of people in every beautiful place. That's just the trade-off."
The blossom only lasts a few days - but for Gipf-Oberfrick it means a state of emergency every year.
