The Winter Olympics are hurting main street in Livigno's duty-free mountain enclave

Organizers of the 2026 Winter Olympics are betting that the event will lure more tourists to northern Italy for years to come

LIVIGNO, Italy -- On the climb to Livigno, atop the mountain pass before the road glides down to the village hosting snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, there sits a lonely customs checkpoint. Its guardhouse and gate are the only signs of an internal fiscal border within Italy, one that encircles the snow-blanketed valley and the duty-free status it has enjoyed for centuries.

The tax exemption that makes Livigno a shoppers' paradise, paradoxically, has left it not receiving the full economic bonus from hosting the Olympics, at least in the short term. On the contrary, shopkeepers are getting squeezed — even if hotels and restaurants are packed and cashing in. Still, everyone is hopeful the Games will yield a longer-term upside for the village.

Questioning economic benefits is routine for Olympic host cities, and it's been the talk of the town on Livigno's main street during the Games. Unlike in other Olympic mountain venues, business owners told The Associated Press that athletes, fans, workers and volunteers have boxed out visitors who come chasing duty-free deals in what is usually a bumper month.

“I’m not positive about the Olympics, because usually you are working more than double in this period, because this period for us was a high season. Now, this period is like our low season,” said Olga Salari, owner of a toy story full of Lego sets. Olympic visitors, she added, “don’t even visit the shops.”

How bad has it been? Salari said she has already seen a 70% drop in sales compared with an average February. The Olympics run from Feb. 6-22.