One of Europe’s most popular cities is buckling under the weight of the number of tourists it draws from across the world, with local leaders now scrambling to reverse the trend. Known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic,” Dubrovnik and its medieval stone walls have been at risk of losing their place on UNESCO’s list after it issued a warning over its tourism management. However, visitors still outnumber locals at a staggering ratio of 27:1.
Now, the Croatian city, made even more famous by Game of Thrones, has started to undergo a radical transformation under the leadership of its mayor, Mato Franković. “Mass tourism is not a win-win for Dubrovnik,” said Mr Franković. “At the beginning you feel like you are winning, but at the end, actually you are losing the quality of service and quality of life. It is just a losing game. So we overturned everything.” Since taking office in 2017, he has introduced a number of initiatives to control the flow of tourists into the city.
Alongside capping cruise ship numbers to just two a day – down from a peak of eight – Mr Franković has also made it mandatory for ships to dock for at least eight hours, giving passengers time to explore the city at a slower pace, rather than simply rushing to see its landmarks, like the GOT filming locations for the King’s Landing and the stage for Cersei Lannister’s famous “walk of shame”.
Dubrovnik has also started managing visitor flow with CCTV cameras and has introduced an official city pass, the Dubrovnik Pass, giving tourists free entrance to six museums, two galleries and the city walls, as well as 24 hours of bus rides for €40 (£35). As well as being easy to use and affordable to buyers, it also provides local authorities with key data for making decisions. From next year, visitors will be required to book time slots for the city walls and museums via the Pass, which uses a traffic light system to show crowded and quieter times.
Meanwhile, a management plan created with the University of Dubrovnik has set a maximum number of people within the city walls at 11,200. In 2019, up to 9,500 cruise ship tourists were descending on the medieval city each day during peak season, in addition to those arriving by air or land. According to Mr Franković, numbers never exceeded 10,500 this year, largely thanks to fewer cruise arrivals, the BBC reported.
More changes are on the way, too, aimed at reversing what has been dubbed the “Disneyfication” of Dubrovnik. In February, caretaker Marc van Bloemen said: “It’s like Disneyland. It’s a theme park. In any of these shops here [displaying rubber ducks holding ‘I love Dubrovnik’ placards], there’s nothing to do with Croatia.”
New rules include the introduction of a low-cost luggage delivery service, aimed at reducing the unwelcome noise of wheeled suitcases on Dubrovnik’s cobblestone streets. New rules and taxation around short-term rentals also hope to make it less desirable for locals to rent out their apartments for a higher profit. This, in turn, may lead to a rise in hotel room prices.
The city has also decided to purchase buildings in the old town to rent to young families and has established a school in a former palace, aimed at bringing life back into the city, which has been slowly drained of residents.
“This is very important for the long term,” Mr Franković added. “Strategically, step by step we will gain more and more houses within the city walls. This is the main way that we can bring people back to the old city.”
“The old city is an ATM machine,” said Mr van Bloemen, who rents out apartments in his home to tourists. “It’s turning this city into a theme park – and people trying to live here feel like they’re in the way. We moved here in 1972, but we wouldn’t do that now.”