Plans for Sound of Music hotel blocked

(04 December 2008)

Salzburg's planning council has blocked plans to convert the former von Trapp family home into a hotel.

The Austrian city has responded to protests by residents of the upmarket area, made famous by The Sound of Music.

Tourism statistics for the city show that 40% of overnight stays are from fans of the film. Salzburg is also the birthplace of Mozart.

Hotel developers planned to provide 14 rooms in the villa, where the von Trapp family lived between 1923 and 1938.