A Netflix series based on a 1955 psychological thriller novel is causing scores of travellers to visit an Italian coastal town “saturated with overtourism”, leaving locals worried.
The series Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley, is set in the village of Atrani on the Amalfi Coast. Locals have said that since the series was aired, visitors to the area have been rife, according to The Guardian.
Airbnb said it recorded a 93% increase in bookings to the area following the show’s release last week. But locals aren’t too convinced all this exposure is a good thing.
“This coast is saturated with overtourism. If more visitors come because of the series, I sincerely hope they come in low season,” Antonella Florio of Maison Escher apartments said. Others around the coastal village agree.
“If tourism does grow, the risk is that it’s not managed intelligently,” Luisa Criscolo, property manager at Chiara’s House said.
“Our village can’t cope with huge numbers of tourists. Cars, buses and motorbikes leave the traffic paralysed.”
The Guardian reported the village only has one hotel and a handful of holiday lets and Airbnbs. During summer, its beach is taken up by row after row of beach chairs and sunbeds.
The series’ production designer David Gropman told Netflix that he loved the “incredible geography” of Atrani.
“The relationship of the main square to the beach, all of those unbelievable paths, that maze of stairs and corridors” all play a part in why Atrani is the backdrop to the show, he said.
But travellers were quick to mention there are still some hidden gems on the coast.
“We left the crowds behind and walked to Atrani over hills via Torre dello Ziro. Up there, you see no one.
“After steep steps down to the village, we had a swim, and a drink at Bar Nettuno, then walked the coast road back to Amalfi,” London-based musician Adam McCulloch said.
Criscolo said the amount of people travelling during summer months needed to shift.
“The authorities need to keep a decent amount of places open longer so some visits can be channelled to other times of year, and must also encourage use of waterborne transport, and offer more frequent services on smaller buses.”
Atrani locals – of which there are a permanent 800 – are “braced for change” following the increase in mass tourism.