Biathlon-Winter Games bring tourism boost to biathlon hotbed of northern Italy

ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 7 : The staging of the biathlon competitions in Antholz-Anterselva in northern Italy is set to give tourism in the region a huge boost as hotels, restaurants and attractions showcase their unique German-influenced culture for a global Olympic audience.

At Nancy's Holiday Homes, around 16 km from the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena that will host the competitions at the Milano Cortina Games, proprietor Nancy Prugger surveys a lobby full of Swiss athletes talking to the press.

On Sunday the mixed relay gets the biathlon competitions under way, and with the wildly popular Dorothea Wierer and Tommaso Giacomel set to race for the Italian team, the excitement is reaching fever pitch.

"Doro and Tommy are obviously very popular. They're our heroes in many ways and we'll be cheering very much for them. People here, we have a long culture of biathlon ... it has a long tradition here and people are very involved," Prugger told Reuters. 

Born and raised in the area, Prugger worked around northern Italy before returning to transform the former campsite owned by her parents into a suite of homes and chalets that attracts lovers of the outdoors all year round. 

"Wintertime we have mostly skiers, so downhill skiers, cross-country skiers. Biathlon, of course, is not a sport so many people practice, but we have the World Cup event here every year," she explains. 

"We also have a lot of people who are hiking as well in winter, we have nice hiking paths going up to the end of the valley, so that's mostly what people come here for, just to be in nature."

Surrounded by the towering, snow-capped peaks of the Dolomite mountains that make up part of the Italian Alps, the scenery is breathtaking.

Numerous ski lifts cut a swathe