Cinque Terre, with its colorful houses and rugged cliffside, is a popular destination for travelers.
While the Cinque Terre National Park is happy to have tourists visit, they don't want them to climb the cliffs in flip-flops. For travelers who do, they'll be fined.
Apparently, many travelers have taken on the task of hiking Cinque Terre in flip flops and flimsy-like sandals, then find themselves at the top of the mountain unable to get back down. When that happens, they often call on mountain rescue teams to get them down, and Cinque Terre would rather use those teams to help people who really need it.
Cinque Terre is starting an advertising campaign that informs visitors on appropriate footwear needed to hike the national park. Travelers who don't heed the advice may face fines between 50 ($56) and 2,500 ($2,826).
"The problem is that people come here thinking they are at the seaside, but the paths above the villages are like mountain trails," said Patrizio Scarpellini, the head of the Cinque Terre national park.
"First we will introduce the information campaign, then we'll start issuing fines."
The amount of the fine will depend on "how much inconvenience and expense [travelers] inflict on the authorities," according to The Telegraph.
Right now, tourist rescues rely on volunteers from Club Alpino Italiano, a hiking organization that maintains paths and mountains in the country.
"The paths are like Alpine trails. Tourists should not be tackling them in flip-flops and without adequate water," said the club's Maurizio Cattani.
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