The slopes and long lift directly behind the village, are never overcrowded |
Most tourists
to Embach come from Germany and the Netherlands. This week is “Hollander Woche” as there are
so many Dutch here. However, in recent times we have entertained friends from
New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, the USA, Ireland, Norway, England and Scotland.
They are all
agreed about one thing; Embach’s charm lies in the fact that residents of this
small farming village are not outnumbered by tourists. Life here continues in
time-honoured fashion with old traditions being cherished and nurtured.
Our recent
Scottish friends with their two young daughters agreed on this and said that
the Embach hill was a great place to start getting their skiing legs back in
action. But then, with so many opportunities lying within a short drive, they
were ideally located to have a very varied and challenging sporting holiday
while returning to the tranquillity of Embach in the evenings.
Embach is what
it is. A small farming community that has no added “attractions” to keep
tourists amused day and night, and to keep them spending. The mountains around
remain as nature created them, without the addition of hanging bridges, lookout
platforms and flying fox experiences.
Recent news of
Italian villages having to introduce a ticket system to limit the swarms of tourists pouring off cruise ships
and swamping the communities should be a warning to some ski towns that have
sold their souls to mass tourism.