Winter Games to Boost Tourism in Northern Italy's Biathlon Hub

Impact of Winter Games on Local Tourism

By Philip O'Connor

Local Attractions and Activities

ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The staging of the biathlon competitions in Antholz-Anterselva in northern Italy is set to give tourism in the region a huge boost as hotels, restaurants and attractions showcase their unique German-influenced culture for a global Olympic audience.

Cultural Significance of the Region

At Nancy's Holiday Homes, around 16 km from the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena that will host the competitions at the Milano Cortina Games, proprietor Nancy Prugger surveys a lobby full of Swiss athletes talking to the press.

Visitor Experience and Hospitality

On Sunday the mixed relay gets the biathlon competitions under way, and with the wildly popular Dorothea Wierer and Tommaso Giacomel set to race for the Italian team, the excitement is reaching fever pitch.

"Doro and Tommy are obviously very popular. They're our heroes in many ways and we'll be cheering very much for them. People here, we have a long culture of biathlon ... it has a long tradition here and people are very involved," Prugger told Reuters. 

Born and raised in the area, Prugger worked around northern Italy before returning to transform the former campsite owned by her parents into a suite of homes and chalets that attracts lovers of the outdoors all year round. 

"Wintertime we have mostly skiers, so downhill skiers, cross-country skiers. Biathlon, of course, is not a sport so many people practice, but we have the World Cup event here every year," she explains. 

"We also have a lot of people who are hiking as well in winter, we have nice hiking paths going up to the end of the valley, so that's mostly what people come here for, just to be in nature."

Surrounded by the towering, snow-capped peaks of the Dolomite mountains that make up part of the Italian Alps, the scenery is breathtaking.

Numerous ski lifts cut a swathe through the forests as locals and tourists jump on public transport with their kit under their arms to spend a few hours swishing down the slopes. 

SURPRISED OUTSIDERS

Many outsiders are surprised to find signs in both German and Italian, but the autonomous South Tyrol province borders Austria to the north, and more than half the population are native German speakers. 

The area was occupied by Italy at the end of World War One and annexed by the Kingdom of Italy in 1919, and its current status was decided by an Austro-Italian treaty signed in 1971. 

Many in Italian biathlon are native speakers of German from the region, and with menus boasting pizza and pasta alongside traditional Tyrolean fare such as dumplings and game stews, the question of identity can occasionally be a thorny one. 

"We get that question asked a lot and I guess it should be answered person by person, but we are of course Italian citizens, we are Italian, we have a special autonomy," Plugger explains. 

"We have three languages here - Italian, German and Ladin - with different cultures and traditions, and they're all very important to us, but it's not about choosing something - nothing excludes the other, I think it's just coexisting, that's just who we are."

While the annual biathlon World Cup event brings the region plenty of attention from fans of the sport, the scale of the interest generated by the Olympics is on a whole new level, and Prugger and her fellow business owners on the local tourist board are expecting a big upswing after the Games. 

Asked to give one reason why people should visit, Prugger laughs. 

"Besides the wonderful landscape and the nice people and the good cuisine? We have a lot of things to do here. For me personally, the most beautiful thing is that things really change through the four seasons," she said.

"I think it's the mixture, the combination of nature and cultures and traditions that make this a very special place."

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)