11 June, 2021 - The very first large Dubrovnik cruise ship with passengers on board since the start of the pandemic arrrived today. This is a pieces of news many people in Dubrovnik have been waiting for for quite some time.

MSC Orchestra arrived to Dubrovnik this morning. It is the first big Dubrovnik cruise ship to bring passengers into the city after a long and costly silent period caused by the pandemic. This 294m long behemoth can house 2550 passengers in its 1275 cabins. It is not new to Dubrovnik as MSC ships are some of the most commonly seen cruise ships in the city's port. With the city’s tourism sector feeding so many local Dubrovnik families, the long awaited arrival of a thousand or so guests at one time is seen as nothing short of a blessing. This is exactly why Dubrovnik’s mayor Mato Frankovic was quick to point out the arrival of the ship and its significance on his social media.

Source: Mato Frankovic / Facebook

Dubrovnik’s love/hate relationship with modern day cruise ships has been an ongoing state of being for the last couple of decades or so. The cruise ship industry brought to the city a quick way of recuperating large numbers of guests after the Croatian Homeland war of the 1990’s, which left the city’s economy in a total shambles. Soon after the first ships started arriving back to Dubrovnik, it became clear that Croatia's southernmost city is a perfect short stop port for many. Cruise ships brought with them large number of guests and did wonders in prolonging the tourist season.

Of course, it’s not all good news. A large amount of people coming to the city for a short time means crowded streets and traffic jams once again, an old Dubrovnik problem. For many, the experience of Dubrovnik became lessened by the fact the movement along the main areas was at times very difficult. Overcrowding and the strain placed on the infrastructure became a real issue. Dubrovnik’s image of a pleasant destination perfect for longer stays is now under threat.

What’s Next?

With all this being said, it will be very interesting to see how cruise ships are going to fit into Dubrovnik’s tourism picture this year. There will be a few of them, most probably with reduced capacity and sales. This might be a unique opportunity to see whether cruise ships and Dubrovnik can finally settle their differences.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

November 28, 2019 - The City of Dubrovnik has actively begun the second phase of the Destination Sustainability Measurement Project, which is being implemented by the Global Council for Sustainable Tourism (GSTC) for the city government. 

HRTurizam writes that this body is implementing the report based on the criteria for sustainable tourism and destination management established by the United Nations and it is estimated to be completed in January 2020. In addition to the plan for managing the protected city of Dubrovnik, which is also under construction, it is a crucial document that will define the current degree of sustainability and which will define further steps in managing the destination to achieve sustainable tourism.

Yesterday in Lazareti, an initial meeting of GSTC council member and Mediterranean director Ioannis Pappas met with Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic, his associates and a wide range of stakeholders in Dubrovnik tourism: city councilors, utility companies directors, representatives of travel agencies, police, associations and organizations related to tourism and others.

Mayor Frankovic gave the opening address and emphasized the importance of tourism sustainability in the context of the city's ‘Let's Respect the City’ project that the city administration has been implementing since 2017. As a critical element of the city and Dubrovnik tourism management, he emphasized cooperation with the Dubrovnik Port Authority by regulating the number of cruisers and at the same time, managing the number of day-trips to the old city center by using online vouchers for buses and informing stationary guests with smart city tools. In addition to presenting the existing measures, he announced future moves that would be introduced gradually, to make Dubrovnik an even better place to live and, consequently, for tourists.

Pappas presented the methodology of measuring sustainability, emphasizing that active cooperation of all actors involved in Dubrovnik tourism is of paramount importance for this phase. Numerous workshops, focus groups and one-on-one interviews are scheduled over the next seven days, and Pappas invited anyone interested to submit their comments, ideas, suggestions, and ask questions, discuss issues and opportunities. Based on these consultations and policy analysis, GSTC will evaluate the current performance of the destination using the prescribed criteria and indicators.

Upon the completion of the analysis, an evaluation of the activities to date will be presented to the Dubrovnik public and the city government will receive concrete, practical guidance for improving results in the most essential areas of destination sustainability: destination management, benefits to the local economy, life and cultural wellbeing, and protection of nature and natural resources. The sponsor of the project is the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a partner of the City of Dubrovnik and a signatory to the Cooperation Agreement for the Preservation and Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Dubrovnik. The City of Dubrovnik is one of the 30 world destinations for which GSTC will conduct a Destination Assessment and the only destination measured by CLIA.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.