A Swiss mountain village has denied it is cashing in on tourists, after installing a payment turnstile for access to its lakeside dock. Iseltwald, a shooting location used in a popular Asian TV series, with spectacular Alpine views over Lake Brienz, has seen an influx of Asian tourists since the show aired in 2020.
Filmed for the South Korean production called “Crash Landing On You”, a story of cross-border love between South and North Korea, one spot in particular, a pier at the lake’s edge, is presented in the hit show as a romantic getaway, and has become a hugely sought-after backdrop for souvenir photos and Instagram images.
There on the dock, in the 3rd episode of “Crash Landing on You”, the character of army officer Ri Jeong-hyeok (played by Hyun Bin) remembers his time as a piano player and plays a song he composed for his brother.
But the reality of the jetty is a little less peaceful and idyllic these days. In fact, Iseltwald, a village of just 406 inhabitants, with only three hotels and four restaurants, is struggling to cope with the approximately 1,000 daily visitors drawn in by the TV drama, according to village clerk Gabriela Blatter.
To raise revenue to help pay for the additional work and infrastructure that the tourists necessitate, such as rubbish collection and disposal, servicing public bathrooms, and street cleaning, the village decided in 2023 to start charging guests to set foot on the small wooden pier that features in the series.
‼️Iseltwald, a Swiss village, confirms making CHF 244'000 (over $300k) with this selfie-spot in one year 🤯💸 pic.twitter.com/Vrcua2qUAZ
— Tobi Mülhauser 🍕 (@TobiMuelhauser) July 5, 2025
It’s not a question of making a profit, Titia Weiland, manager of the Bönigen-Iseltwald Tourism agency, told press, insisting: “It’s not correct to read it as ‘the community gets rich’”. But the strategy is nonetheless lucrative. Visitors paying the five-Swiss-franc fee (just over five euros) each to go through the lakeside turnstile generated €245,000 francs (€263,000) in 2024 alone, according to Blatter. What’s more, a nearby public toilet that charges one franc per use, has brought in 58,000 francs.
Some of those funds will go towards further projects. A car park is being improved to help accommodate the huge numbers of tour buses and cars that bring the tourists in and the village shop has expanded its opening hours to seven days a week.
While the village welcomes the visitors, and has even created a website to help them navigate the Crash Landing sights to see in Iseltwald, it has suffered, like destinations elsewhere, with the anti-social behaviour displayed by some who go there. Blatter said: “The problem is that the tourists don’t understand what’s private and what’s public. They go everywhere” – and that’s including residents’ private land and gardens. As a result, the website asks guests to respect the surroundings, dispose of litter correctly, and to help maintain the “quiet atmosphere of this authentic Swiss village”.
