September te 20th, 2019 - While the renovation and the construction works were performed near Orlando's column right at the beginning (or the end, depending on the perspective) of Stradun, the main road in Dubrovnik Old Town, an unexpected discovery has been made.

Dubrovniknet writes about the brick fields found and registered, and the bricks were laid down on the pavement in the shape of a fishbone. Although the exact period during which these bricks were set on Stradun has not been determined, it can be safely assumed that it was done after the city's proclamation from 1360, but before the decision was made by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century.

That is the decision that lead to Stradun being fully paved in stone, which is what we know it to look like now. Before the bricks, it is known that the streets in Dubrovnik were paved with wood, and now it has been found that the brick structure in the pavement has been trimmed with wooden elements.

It is also not known where the bricks used to pave the roads in Dubrovnik came from. The Facebook page Heritage_zupadubrovacka shared the photos of the newly-found pavement on Stradun and explained that Dubrovnik produced the bricks in Kupari, and sometimes it was exported to what is currently Italy (and, sometimes when there were shortages, it was imported from there too). The wood for the stoves for the brick production mostly came from Mljet. Is it possible that the bricks in Stradun were made in Kupari? Time and detailed analyses will tell...

The pavement surface in front of the Church of St. Blaise started earlier this September and should be finished within 90 days - if spectacular archaeological finds don't delay it. The goal of the renovation is to maintain the healthy stones and to remove the dirt. The works are supposed to cost around 1 million kuna, and all is to be done under the watchful eye of the conservators of the heritage of Dubrovnik.

September 20, 2019 - After limiting the number of cruise ships to two per day, Dubrovnik will introduce a new measure to keep the old town from being overrun by cruise ship tourists.

HRTurizam reports that at the end of last year, Dubrovnik made a step in the right direction when they reduced the overburden of cruise ship tourists to the city center. Namely, in agreement with the cruise companies, they concluded that a maximum of two cruise ships would arrive daily in the most desirable cruise destination in the Mediterranean, which would bring a maximum of 5000 visitors to the old town. 

Thus, from Monday to Sunday, a maximum of two cruisers sail to Dubrovnik per day. This year, the entrance to the city was blocked only once, as a result of the MSC Sinfonia docking in Gruz earlier than foreseen by the established schedule. The MSC responded in a statement, saying that the failure occurred as a result of unfortunate and unplanned circumstances. 

"The most unfavorable weather conditions at sea caused Sinfonia to miss Mykonos from Venice and went directly to Dubrovnik, forcing the ship to arrive early,” emphasized MSC Cruises, using the excuse that this event was an exception caused by external factors.

The City of Dubrovnik recently harmonized the rules for the 2020 season with the shipowners and CLIA representatives, which will include further improvements in the number of guests who visit the old town at the same time, to ensure the highest level of guest service and citizen satisfaction.

One measure is the introduction of cruise ship transportation to Pile and back by low-floor articulated buses. The shuttle service will be operated by JGP Libertas, and will significantly reduce congestion on city roads. According to the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mate Frankovic, the said measures will establish full control and organization of docking cruise ships, all to achieve the highest level of service provided.

Furthermore, at the initiative of the City of Dubrovnik, the Ministry of Tourism introduced a sojourn tax for cruise ships.

Its introduction will be decided by the destinations, i.e., local self-government units, and will be implemented from the beginning of 2021. Thus, Dubrovnik will introduce a sojourn tax per boat from 2021, although the first thought was that a sojourn tax would be charged for each guest on the cruiser.

“We are pleased that, in cooperation with the Association of Cities, we succeeded in inserting in the law the possibility to collect a tax from one-day guests and the Ministry accepted. However, it was agreed that the payment would work per boat, and talking to our CLIA partners, they agreed that it was the best model,” pointed out Mate Frankovic.

The plan to introduce cruise ship fees was presented to the new President of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Adam Goldstein, and his associates at a working meeting in Berlin during the ITB fair in early March. 

"They expressed complete understanding for the introduction of the fee and thanked us for making them aware of the intention promptly. I want to emphasize that CLIA are our true partners in our project 'Respect the City' because they, like us in the city administration, want the best destination experience for their guests, that is, we want satisfied guests regardless of how they arrive, but also satisfied citizens. Only through balance and through cooperation can we achieve this,” said Frankovic.

Finally, Frankovic pointed out that the extra revenue from the cruise ship tax will be spent on improving the city's utility infrastructure. 

"The funds will be used to invest in the maintenance of roads and transport/communal infrastructure to increase the overall utility standard whose development has unfortunately not followed the development of tourism in the last decades, and it is up to this city government to change it."

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 17, 2019 - The popular American Airlines service between Dubrovnik and Philadelphia will run until the end of October next year. 

As many of you are already aware, American Airlines connected Croatia and the United States for the first time in 28 years this year. Namely, the Oneworld member began seasonal operations between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik from June 7, which will run until September 27, 2019. The American Airlines service operates using a 209-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 28 seats in business class and 181 seats in economy class, and Wi-Fi services are available throughout the entire flight.

After the airline already boosted operations this year to add a fourth weekly flight on Sundays in September, the airline has announced they will now slow down next year. 

American Airlines recently announced that it would boost operations between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik for the 2020 summer season. Namely, the OneWorld member will operate the Philadelphia-Dubrovnik route daily in 2020. Seasonal traffic on this route will commence from June 4, 2020, and their daily service will begin from the very start. 

Ex Yu Aviation reported on Tuesday that the end of seasonal traffic for this service would run until October 24. The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft will fly again next year. Tickets are already on sale until mid-July. 

This news, however, comes as no surprise, as the airline’s Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning, Vasu Raja, recently said that the service would run daily and run longer next year. 

American Airlines' Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Sales, Tom Lattig, said back in April that there could even be additional flights next year. 

"Wherever we see opportunities and demand, we'll go. As with the opening of our Dubrovnik - Philadelphia line, we are very specific about demand. Central Europe has the greatest growth potential. We are preparing to add more and more new links. We want to continue to lead the market. We will look closely at the results for the first year of operations. We are always looking at new opportunities to grow our network to ensure we offer service to where our customers wish to go,” Lattig said. 

Furthermore, the head of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Romana Vlašić, also teased the idea. 

"This pilot project from American Airlines will grow over the coming years to include more American cities as well as new airlines. We have been working intensively on the US market for years and it seems that this work is starting to bear fruit".

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

September 16, 2019 - Dubrovnik is in the international media once again, and once again the topic is the inseparable duo or overtourism and cruise ships. 

How much have the perceptions of Dubrovnik changed in the last ten years, do you think?

It was a question I was wondering looking over this morning's news about Croatia in the international media. 

Back in the 1980s, it was fondly known as the Pearl of the Adriatic, arguably the top destination in the whole of former Yugoslavia. 

Then in the 1990s, it became one of the symbols of the horrors of war in the region. a siege and shelling of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The tourism recovery from the tragedy of war was mightily impressive, and Dubrovnik was at the heart of tourism in the new modern Croatian state, the very symbol of the Mediterranean as It Once Was. 

And then, 8 years ago, came a new name and identity for the iconic city in southern Dalmatia - Kings Landing, the home of hit global HBO show, Kings Landing. A new genre of Dubrovnik fans was born. 

But all the while, there was another aspect to tourism in Dubrovnik, which was growing steadily - cruise ship tourism. Cruise ships were among the first to return after the war, and their influence has gradually increased over the years to such an extent that they dominate during the main tourism months. And they are starting to dominate the international column inches when talking of Dubrovnik. 

Overtourism, cruise ships - Barcelona, Venice, Dubrovnik. 

The latest focus on Dubrovnik, overtourism and cruise ships is in a picture essay in The Guardian this morning:

Known as the “pearl of the Adriatic”, Dubrovnik has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Mediterranean. Its charming old town, array of Unesco World Heritage sites and sizeable port were always draws, but the new success of Game of Thrones, much of which was shot in the Croatian city, has made it a particularly popular stopoff point for cruise ships, whose passengers are told they can see the highlights in a single day.

Minders accompany the passengers on to dry land, where they are typically bussed into the old town. Tours often start at the 16th-century Pile Gate, followed by a stroll along the Stradun to the city walls, entrance to which costs €30 (£27). Game of Thrones locations and Europe’s oldest pharmacy in a 14th-century Franciscan monastery are big pulls.

Read the full photo essay in The Guardian.

The central event for the museums in Dubrovnik this year, the exhibition ''Orlando - A Symbol of Freedom'' (Orlando - simbol slobode) was opened yesterday at Knežev dvor (The Rector's Palace).

The exhibition is a part of an entire series of events organised throughout this year in Dubrovnik to commemorate the 600th anniversary of when the Orlando Column was erected. 2019 was therefore dubbed "The Year of Orlando" in Dubrovnik.

The exhibition consists of several thematic units, and more than 70 objects, copies and originals from the museums and archives are being presented at one of the most amazing settings for an exhibition. Most of the exhibits for the purposes of this exhibition have been borrowed from the archives in Dubrovnik, the scientific library in Dubrovnik, the archives of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts and the Franciscan monastery Male braće in Dubrovnik. Some of the exhibits have also been borrowed from various private owners.

The exhibition also includes interesting multimedia displays, and a rich catalogue of over 300 pages, as well as a comic-book titled "An Interview with Orlando" which was also published.

The manager of the Dubrovnik Museums and the project's leader, Pavica Vilać, said that this exhibition completes the seven central exhibition and publishing projects. Those projects are an attempt by the Dubrovnik Museums to brand Dubrovnik as a location of great cultural and historic significance.

Vilać added that the exhibition brings forth the historic framework around Orlando's Column, talks about the artistry of the column itself in terms of the sculptures in Dubrovnik in the 12th through to the 16th century, as well as the motif of Orlando in fine arts, music and literary heritage.

The exhibition will be open for public until early January 2020, it was designed by Studio Rašić+Vrabec, and the multimedia was created by the Novena company. The City of Dubrovnik and the Ministry of Culture supported both the exhibition and the catalogue.

September 13, 2019 - The coast of Korcula is decorated with luxury as the yachts of billionaires Bill Gates and Roman Abramovich sail into the area.

The Planjak islet is located near the famous town of Korcula, situated to the northeast of the island. A local hotspot that draws in weekend beachgoers, Planjak is only accessible by water taxi, taxi boat, or kayak, as there is no public transport to the island. Located across the sea from southeastern shores of Badija, Planjak boasts three pebble beaches and is no stranger welcoming the sun all day long. Its colorful, crystalline sea makes it hard to skip, so it’s no wonder why some of the world’s biggest billionaires chose this area precisely to park their yachts on Thursday. 

Namely, Dalmacija Danas reports that the yachts of two world billionaires - Bill Gates and Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich, were anchored off the shores of Korcula, near Planjak on Thursday.

The two yachts likely anchored next to one another by chance. The Power Play Yacht is owned by Bill Gates, an American business magnate and one of the richest people in the world. You might know him better as the founder of Microsoft. The Power Play yacht has spent the better part of the summer cruising the Adriatic. Recall, Gates and his family were said to be exploring the coast of Montenegro at the beginning of August, though we are unsure if Gates is on his yacht currently. 

Ivica Trojanović

We do know that Gates loves Croatia and the Adriatic and often spends his summers swimming and sunbathing around Dalmatia. He even recommends Croatia to his friends.

But Gates’ yacht isn’t the only big player sailing the Korucla area, as the 110-meter-long yacht of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is calling this part of the coast its home for now, too. Namely, the Eclipse, which was once known as the largest yacht in the world, is known around the world as the ‘$1.5 billion yacht’, though estimated costs range between $500-700 million.

Ivica Trojanović

The Eclipse was spotted in the Cavtat area at the end of August and is often spotted sailing around Dubrovnik. 

You can check out the toys of these two famous billionaires in the photos by Ivica Trojanović.

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

Rubbish strewn along the whole of the Croatian coast, not just that in major tourist cities like Dubrovnik, has posed a problem for a considerable amount of time, and when even foreign tourists are getting involved to try to remedy the problem, it's too little to say that Croatia has a growing garbage issue.

Numerous ''clean ups'' of beaches and under the sea's surface are held every year, but the majority of them take place well outside of the summer tourist season. Kids from Dubrovnik have, however, spent some of their ''time off'' doing their bit and helping to keep the environment clean, and once again, children are teaching us more valuable lessons than we can teach them.

As Morski writes on the 11th of September, 2019, this year, just like every other year for a while now, during the late spring and summer, young eco-activists from the Eko Omblići Association visited the entire Dubrovnik area by boat, including the Elaphite islands (Lopud, Koločep (Kalamota) and Šipan, not only to enjoy the unique beauty of the southern Dalmatian coast and islands, but also to ecologically educate themselves and do their bit for the gorgeous Adriatic they love and respect immensely.

''For more than twenty years now, we have been lovingly guiding our young eco-activists of the Eko Omblići Association, to our islands and along the coast which is full of beautiful untouched nature, so that they not only enjoy it but continue to preserve it for their descendants.

During our eco-educational trips to the islands and along the Dubrovnik area's coastline, the Eko Omblići Association distributes leaflets to islanders and tourists with eco messages in both Croatian and English language about the importance of preserving the sea, coast and the islands not only from plastics but also from other pollutionm'' explained the project leader of the ''Let's clean the Adriatic from plastic'' initiative, Jadranka Šimunović.

''It's good that general environmental awareness along our coast is increasing among the local population and among tourists, and many have helped, ranging from the media, eco-organisations, responsible environmental and nature institutions, to educational institutions and social networks, etc. So far, about 6000 children and young people have passed through our eco associations and all of them, along with our adult volunteers, have learned something new about ecology and ecological culture, which makes us very happy.

Next weekend, we're taking our young eco-activists from the Eko Omblići Association by boat to the island of Šipan and Šipanska luka as part of our project ''Let's clean the Adriatic from Plastic,'' concluded Šimunović.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in how Croatia works to protect its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow, or check out Dubrovnik in a Page for all you need to know about the Pearl of the Adriatic.

September 10, 2019 - As the summer season comes to an end, we look ahead to the winter in Croatia. Thus, Croatia Airlines has announced some small changes to its flight schedule this year. 

Recall, Croatia will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January 1, 2020. With that said, Ex Yu Aviation reports that the national carrier will add a one flight per week between Brussels and Zagreb, totaling to 12 per week. Furthermore, the seasonal service between Zagreb and Dublin will work until January 26, 2020, while its operations between Zagreb and Lisbon will end at the end of October. 

Croatia Airlines will maintain the same winter operations for other Croatian cities this year, which include flights from Split to Frankfurt, Munich and Rome, Dubrovnik to Frankfurt, and Rijeka to Munich. Croatia Airlines has also announced no changes to its winter operations between Croatian locations. 

Recall, Croatia Airlines is currently undergoing a privatization process, which the Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, previously said should be completed by the end of the year. “I believe we will deliver within the set timeframe,” the Minister said. Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ) and Germany's DVB Bank are advising the airline in the process.

While the national carrier projects a 5% increase in passenger traffic by the end of 2019, there are no plans to make any significant changes to its services until the privatization process is complete. 

Ex Yu Aviation adds that Croatia Airlines even dropped its plans to extend the wet-lease for one of Air Nostrum's Bombardier CRJ1000 jets into the winter months, which would have lengthened some of its seasonal routes. Croatia Airlines currently maintains twelve routes from Zagreb during the summer.

Croatia Airlines has welcomed 960,620 passengers from January to June this year, which is an increase of 1.2% compared to 2018. 

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

September 8, 2019 - The largest sailing yacht in the world, more commonly known as 'A', has anchored in the Dubrovnik area near Lokrum island. 

Andrey Melnichenko, the 97th richest man in the world according to Forbes and the ninth richest man in Russia, owns the largest sailing yacht in the world, which sailed to Lokrum island on Friday, reports Dubrovacki Dnevnik.hr.

Namely, this £260 million yacht is 142 meters long, can accommodate a crew of 54 people, 20 guests, has six rooms, eight floors, an underwater observation pod, three swimming pools and many other amenities such as a disco club and state-of-the-art equipment. Its masts stand taller than the Big Ben at almost 100 meters! However, many of its details have been kept under wraps.

The interior and exterior of 'A' were designed by Philip Stark, who modeled the yacht off of American warships, though its appearance was designed to defend itself against modern pirates. Renowned naval architect Martin Francis constructed the luxury motor yacht, which was built at the HDW shipyard in Kiel. The sailing yacht was ordered in March 2011, launched in April 2015,  and acquired in May 2017.

The cost of building the yacht was about $500 million. With a length of about 142 meters and a volume of 6,000 tons, it is one of the largest private yachts in the world. 

Melnichenko is married to the Serbian model Aleksandra, and the two have been declared the most glamorous couple in the world. Their wealth is unimaginable, and they admit that they afford just about everything they want. In the event they need to jet-set somewhere else while cruising on the 'A', the couple hops on their private Boeing plane which takes off from the yacht's helipad. The plane even boasts the personal logo of the couple - the letter A, which represents the first letter of the name of both spouses. That logo is supposedly on everything they own - from their clothing and towels to the yacht sailing around the Dubrovnik area.

You can see photos of the yacht in Dubrovnik here.

Tor read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

September 7, 2019 - It was a busy August at Croatia’s airports, which saw records and growth from the three most active in the country - Split, Dubrovnik, and Zagreb. 

Namely, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Split Airport recorded 672,261 passengers in August, which is an increase of 7% compared to 2018. Split Airport also welcomed its two-millionth passenger of the year in August. 

From January to August, Split handled 2,497,427 passengers, which is up 6.5% on last year, or an additional 153,266 passengers. The airport is also on schedule to reach its projected 3.3 million passengers this year. 

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Dubrovnik Airport also saw its busiest month on record after handling 524,615 passengers in August, which is up 8.9% on last year. Dubrovnik also welcomed its two-millionth passenger in August, nineteen days earlier than 2018. Furthermore, the airport handled over 24,000 passengers on August 3, which was a 24-hour record. 

From January to August, Dubrovnik welcomed  2,099,022 travelers, which is up 12.9%, or an additional. 240,016 passengers. Dubrovnik Airport was also the fastest-growing airport in the Ex-Yu region in the first sixth months of 2019, adding 157,184 passengers during this period. 

Recall, the first six months of the year, Dubrovnik Airport welcomed the most passengers from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Croatia. The airport expressed that this rise in passengers should continue until the end of the year, and especially going into the end of the holiday season. 

"This winter we expect to see British Airways, Aegean Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Trade Air, Turkish Airlines, Vueling and Croatia Airlines maintain flights to Dubrovnik,” Dubrovnik Airport said. 

Ex Yu Aviation concluded that Zagreb Airport even saw a good August, well, a better August than July. Namely, in August, Zagreb saw 376,026 passengers, which is the slightest increase of 0.9%. From January to August, Zagreb handled 2,276,373 passengers, which is up 2.4% on 2018, or an additional 52,847 passengers. 

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