The first buses of skiers reached the Abruzzo mountain resort of Roccaraso early on Sunday since crowd-control measures were put in place after thousands of daytrippers from the nearby Campania region recently invaded the small town, creating chaos on the slopes, extreme traffic snarl-ups and accusations of bad behaviour.
As part of the new emergency crowd control measures, the buses went through a post set up between nearby Castel di Sangro and Rioneto Sannico, and then were processed by police, Carabinieri officials and firefighters on the 17 State highway just outside the resort.
Some 3,000 people are expected in the town on Sunday, local officials said.
A maximum of 60 buses have been reportedly authorized at the resort, down from the 260 buses registered last Sunday.
One of the most popular skiing destinations in central Italy, Roccaraso welcomed as many as 10,000 daytrippers after influencer posts recently went viral on social media publicizing the town and its low-cost facilities.
This prompted tour companies in the coastal city of Naples and in the Campania region around it to organize cheap tour buses which led last month to tourists clogging the town's roads and angering its 1,500 residents.
Daily visitors, who paid between 20 and 30 euros for the trip, were slammed for causing mayhem and ignoring ski rules, prompting local authorities to introduce crowd-control measures, including limiting bus access to the small town.
Visitors on Sunday said they were not badly behaved, noting they were respectful.
"We only want to spend Sunday in the mountains" and "have fun", said one tourist from Caserta.
Meanwhile Roccaraso Mayor Francesco Di Donato said the town was "safe".
"We have given citizens and tourists the possibility of spending a day in the mountains in absolute security.
"Roccaraso is grateful to tourism from Campania", he noted, adding that the measures in place had been implemented to "host everyone to the best of our ability".
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