''We stand firmly behind the claim that Dubrovnik cannot accommodate more than four thousand passengers at the same time.''
As Dubrovački Dnevnik reports on the 26th of August, 2017, according to this week's announcements, the Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, has sent an official letter to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), regarding cruise ship arrivals in Dubrovnik for both next season and 2019's season.
"In addition to the tourist numbers we have hoped for, as the Mayor, and elected representative of the citizens [of Dubrovnik], I must take into account that the city administration takes all [the necessary] steps to maintain this city of a long history and extraordinary rich, cultural heritage for future generations and for all our visitors, because, along with its natural beauty, climate and gastronomy, its historic legacy is the most attractive factor on which we base our overall offer'' the letter states.
"I don't doubt that you're well acquainted with the fact that the historic core of the city, protected by UNESCO since 1979, is spatially limited and that a large number of visitors within the walls at any one time, which is often the case during the main tourist season, doesn't provide the best experience for any of them, regardless of the way they arrive or what arrangement they're in'' Franković's letter continues.
"Our intent is to provide a higher quality service which, at the moment, given the number of simultaneous arrivals, makes us unable to do so. Consequently, more careful planning of the scheduling of the daily arrivals of cruise ships in Dubrovnik should be our common goal. The City of Dubrovnik stands firmly behind the position that we are unable to accommodate more than 4,000 passengers from cruise ships at the same time. But we remain ready to provide services in all other free periods.''
The letter also notes that the newly launched ''Respect the City'' initiative should make the desire to preserve and take care of this most unique destination a shared, common goal.
Franković's letter to the Cruise Lines International Association essentially calls for cooperation with the aim of making the Pearl of the Adriatic a Cruise Destination of Excellence and expresses hope that CLIA, as an umbrella organisation in this field, will undertake the necessary means among its members so that the number of simultaneous ship arrivals to the city of Dubrovnik can be limited to an acceptable 4,000 visitors.
Translated from Dubrovački Dnevnik
