One European country has bagged the title of the world’s most overcrowded tourist destination, and it might be a surprise. Instead of popular holiday hotspots like Spain or Greece, there is a landlocked location that welcomes a staggering number of visitors.

The country has a population of nine million, while 32 million international tourists flock to it each year. In 2024, a survey from MoneyTransfers.com found that for every resident, there are almost four times the number of tourists. It gives a ratio of one resident to 3.6 tourists. The country that has been awarded the title is Austria,and it sees most of the tourists concentrate on its capital, Vienna.

Known as the ‘City of Dreams’, it is no wonder millions flock to explore it. Attractions in the city include the Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna Opera House and the Museum of Natural History.

The Austrian capital is packed with beautiful baroque architecture, historic landmarks and a great nightlife thanks to the bustling bars and restaurants. Thankfully, the city is used to catering for a high volume of visitors.

But other parts of the country are becoming popular and are not so well equipped. Hallstatt, a small town known for its picturesque Alpine houses, waterfalls and salt lakes, all backed by a beautiful snowy mountain range, is among those seeing a huge influx.

The town, which is rumoured to be the inspiration for the Kingdom of Arendelle in Disney’s Frozen, even had a battle with overtourism.

Hallstatt’s lake became a viral spot to take selfies yet in an effort to scale back the number of tourists, wooden fences were put up to block the view.

Backlash soon hit on social media and they were later dismantled. In a statement to local website Upper Austrian News in 2023, Mayor Scheutz said: “The only thing that would help is if the photo point is no longer a photo point.”

Over a million tourists have headed to Hallstatt since it was rumoured to be linked to Frozen. The town, which is a protected Unesco World Heritage site, has around 800 residents.

Before the pandemic, foot traffic in the town rose to around 10,000 visitors a day. Hallstatt’s mayor, Alexander Scheutz, decided to introduce a cap on the number of tour buses and cars allowed to enter the area.

At the time, he declared he would like to cut tourist numbers by a third.