“Overtourism” is a term coined very recently, and it is used to describe plenty of Europe’s top destinations facing ruin at the hands of their own greed. Here’s how Croatia’s most famous city turned it around. Dubrovnik, celebrated as the Pearl of the Adriatic, is Croatia’s southernmost city and its most well known. Having emerged phoenix-like from the ashes of civil war just 30 years ago, it has become one of the most visited cities in Europe, as well as a hit film and TV set.
It was also one of the most extreme examples of overtourism on the planet.
Trogir, which lies farther up the coast, may be known as Croatia’s open air museum, but Dubrovnik embodies the title, as well as that of a cultural stage.
Respect the City
Surrounded by some of the best preserved Mediaeval walls in the world, this remarkable city that was once an autonomous republic in its own right is protected by UNESCO. Unfortunately, that hasn’t prevented it falling victim to the hordes of cruise ship passengers who sweep through the ancient stone streets like locusts through a field.
Croatia’s tourism Mecca risked not only falling out of favour with UNESCO, but with its own exasperated residents. It has now taken concrete steps to free itself from its self-imposed shackles. Dubrovnik aims to transform itself from being an example of the damage of mass tourism, to the Mediterranean’s sustainable and responsible tourism leader.
Quite the feat indeed, and not one that can happen overnight. Smart city solutions have been implemented through the wider “Respect the City” initiative, which involved dealing with the congestion on the city’s roads which were never intended for heavy traffic. Restaurants were forced to remove some of their tables, 30 percent of them in fact, and potentially tacky souvenir stands were cut by a massive 80 percent.
Naturally, this caused a drop in city revenue, which relies entirely on tourism.
Cutting a deal on cruise ships
Then it came time to grapple with what many consider to be the city’s biggest issue – cruise ships. These giant floating cities were a thorn in the side of Dubrovnik’s tourism for decades. Spilling out their countless passengers for a few hours spent inside the heaving walls of the Old City in the heat of summer was a daily occurrence. Split between greed and calculations as to the benefits of this revealing that things weren’t adding up, city leaders contacted Cruise Lines International Association, which supports policies and practices that foster safe, healthy and sustainable cruise operations; tourism strategies that maximize the benefits of cruise travel for communities.
Owing to its geographical position, cruise tourism is important to Dubrovnik, and never will it see a time without immense vessels docking. A ban was never on the cards, but much like the case with Venice, it simply couldn’t go on as it had.
Dubrovnik’s agreement with CLA was for arrival and departure times to be staggered. That would allow a better flow of people in and out of the historic core of the city, without clogging the old and ill-equipped infrastructure. Though accommodation tax (sojourn) had been in place for a while, a new tax on cruise ships was also introduced.
UNESCO proposed its own suggestions, and based on an agreement, only 4,000 people from cruise ships could enter into the Old City at any one time, and they could disembark a maximum of two vessels. Entry and exit signs were put up at the Pile Gate entrance to the Old City, reducing the throngs of selfie stick carrying crowds and making the flow more efficient.
The Respect the City initiative also included other demands, such imposing fines for being dressed indecently, drinking alcohol in certain areas and more. This, too, was aimed at preventing the almost Disneyland-like Dubrovnik from descending any farther down a difficult road.
Just a few years ago, nobody would have believed that the poster child for overtourism would ever achieve a 70-percent excellence score in a Global Sustainable Tourism Council report. Dubrovnik became one of 30 cities for which the council created a destination assessment and action plan.
Dubrovnik continues to effortlessly attract visitors from across the world, lying on its impressive laurels that encompass natural beauty, heritage, architecture, culture and history, all while telling a truly unique story.
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Lauren Simmonds
Lauren Simmonds is the editor of Total Croatia News, the largest English language portal in Croatia. She lives in Zagreb, Croatia, and is a translator, content writer, interpreter and the co-author of "Croatia - A Survival Kit for Foreigners," which was published in 2022.
