The history of tourism in the Dolomites

Mountaineers, holiday-makers, artists and bohemians: they all bring their curiosity to the mountains with them.

Around 1850, English mountaineers began to appear in the Ladin valleys. Their journeys took them several days on foot and their destinations were the imposing rock faces and peaks of the Dolomites. From 1870 onwards, train connections and large hotels attracted the nobility who, without exerting themselves too much, could restore themselves with the pure mountain air and the alpenglow.
The inhabitants of the Dolomite valleys found themselves at the service of the guests in various ways; as hotel personnel, as mountain guides and in other roles. Some of them, soon started their own businesses and, around 1900, began to teach new winter sports to their guests.

After 1945, tourism became the most important business sector in the Dolomites.