AUSTRIAN TIMES: Salzburg has blocked plans to turn the original von Trapp family villa fame portrayed in Hollywood favourite "The Sound of Music" into a hotel, according to the company behind the idea.
The 1965 film is based on the true story of how trainee nun Maria wins over Baron von Trapp and his seven children through her singing and good nature, and its fame draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to Salzburg, and the villa, each year.
But Salzburg's planning council is standing in the way of the hotel project because residents are worried the city, close to Austria's idyllic Alps, will be overrun by more tourists, according to the Villa Trapp company.
"Salzburg bites the hand that feeds its tourism," the developer said in a statement on Wednesday.
"It could be thought madness that a new tourism venture is being blocked when global financial problems could result in far fewer tourists for Salzburg," it said. >>> | December 5, 2008
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