ZAGREB, 10 June 2021 - The Croatian ministry of tourism and sport has adopted three ordinances about the reduced tax burden and tax exemption, which would enable businesses in the tourist trade to have 118 million more kuna at their disposal.

The changed regulations about the exemption from payment of some of the accommodation surcharge lump sum and membership fees for the local tourist boards were published in the Official Gazette on Thursday.

Minister Nikolina Brnjac says in a press release that she is sure that this tax relief in the amount of 118 million kuna "will definitely facilitate the efforts of hotels, campsites, private accommodation renters, family farms, and nautical tourism companies to do business more easily" and also help them to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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March 20, 2021- Croatia's plan to save the tourist season has been in the German media spotlight lately as travelers tentatively plan 2021 holidays. 

Index.hr reports that German and Austrian media have been writing about how Croatia plans to save the tourist season this year. Croatia will soon want to attract tourists again with its safety concept, Tagesschau.de writes. 

Author Nikolaus Neumaier of ARD Studio Southeast Europe cites the example of German citizen Elmar Vogel, who is trying to save his business in Croatia during the coronavirus pandemic. The 66-year-old has been running a surfing school on Lošinj, an island in the Kvarner Bay, for 40 years. With six employees so far, he has been able to make a decent living. Vogel also rents bicycles and surfboards. Lošinj, on the other hand, is relatively close to German tourists, and it is easy to reach by car, he points out.

Vogel hopes that enough people will be vaccinated by mid-May and they get their first guests on Lošinj this year. He does not expect Easter guests this year.

"The importance of tourism for the Croatian economy is huge. According to the National Tourism Association, the country was visited by about 21 million tourists in 2019, mostly from Germany. In the previous year, the share of tourism in the gross domestic product was 18.4 percent, much more than in any other country in the European Union," Neumaier says.

This time, Croatian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac wants to make it as easy as possible for tourists to come to the country, and now the program "Safe Stay in Croatia" has been created for tourists. It should guarantee special safety for tourists, including free tests. The Minister believes that it is good that accommodation is already being booked for Easter.

But in all steps, the Croatian government wants to act in a way that is in line with the European Union's values, which means without national independent efforts.

Anita Štefanič also hopes that tourism will start again soon. This German citizen of Croatian origin comes from Solingen and has been living in Croatia since 2010, running a travel agency on the island of Krk. She owns her own holiday apartments and rents and manages apartments and houses of other German owners - a total of more than 30 properties that could be rented for good money if guests come. Štefanič says that she urgently needs tourists now.

“We had a six-month loss of revenue financially, and you notice that, of course, especially now in the winter, when you have to make ends meet with the reserves from the previous year,” Štefanič revealed to Neumaier.

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February 10, 2021 - Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac and Croatian tourism players discussed the 2021 tourist season expectations in Croatia on HRT's Otvoreno program Tuesday night. 

T.portal reports that Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, as a guest on the HTV show Otvoreno hosted by Zrinka Grancaric, said domestic and foreign experts had far lower expectations last year than was the result of the tourist season, at 50 percent of the record 2019.

"We closed everything on time, and we started to open on time. In compliance with all epidemiological measures and standards, we had a tourist season. The tourism sector has proven to be much tougher than others had thought. Croatia has had good results compared to other Mediterranean countries. Of course, we will strive for that this tourist season as well. We hold regular meetings with the directors of our market offices, we have included our embassies, and the feedback is that tourists inquire about the epidemiological situation. The second issue is the security situation. The third question is the vaccination rate," she said.

She added that occupations for travel exist, bookings exist. Camps, holiday homes, nautical tourism, active holidays are mostly booked. Today's tourist is looking for that through security, she added. She pointed out that the certificate for health purposes was discussed at the last meeting of state and government heads.

"COVID passports, which are used as a travel document, were not discussed, but a document that would serve as a vaccination certificate. The vaccine is optional. It is not yet available to the general population, and therefore to set something like that is to restrict freedom of movement," she stressed.

Veljko Ostojic, director of the Croatian Tourism Association, said there was significant interest in hoteliers' vaccinations.

"Today, it is only clear that if the county is in a green area, there are 25 or fewer new cases in the last 14 days. There is no possibility of travel restrictions. Everything else is still not clear. And that was one of the basic problems of the past year. There was no agreement at the EU level. It is now important that we try to vaccinate as soon as possible. We need clearly defined rules at the European Union level and to ensure that tourism professionals are well prepared," he said.

He added that the same result should be made in terms of epidemiological measures. Croatia was a safe destination last year before the vaccine was found, and there is no reason why it should not be this year.

Damir Krešić, director of the Institute for Tourism, said that the upcoming tourist season's key messages are quite clear and related to safety.

"We must send the message that we are a safe destination and that we keep the epidemiological situation under control. No matter what you do, the success of the 2021 season will depend on the epidemiological situation. If the epidemiological situation is good, we have reason to expect a very good tourist season," he pointed out. He added that it is good that Croatia has traditionally been perceived as a safe destination.

"We are entering this tourist season under less favorable circumstances than it was last year. Then we normally prepared for the tourist season, in April we counted the infected on one hand, and now if we have a figure less than 200-300, we can say it is a good day," he said.

Brnjac believes that it is essential for tourism workers to be vaccinated because they are in direct contact with the guest. That sector cannot be pushed because the Government has adopted a vaccination plan, the first and second phases, and it is known what the priorities are. After that, when the third stage of vaccination occurs, tourism workers would be added.

Martina Nimac Kalcina, president of the Family Tourism Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, said that it was difficult and that a critical period was coming when those who managed to earn money last season had used up their supplies.

"Now the question is how to survive until May, June when the arrival of the first guests is announced. We have many tourism workers interested in vaccinations, and I am sure that the number of renters and other tourism workers would increase over time. We will certainly not all be able to get vaccinated by the end of this season. It is not only possible to distinguish between guests and tourism workers who have been vaccinated and who have not, but work should be done to enable testing. Other states will set the condition that one cannot enter their country, their citizens cannot return if they do not have a negative test in the last 72 hours. It costs about 100 euros for a foreigner to take a test in Croatia. What if you have a family of four who has to spend another 400 euros to return to their country? On the other hand, there are not enough checkpoints, and that testing is not organized enough," she said.

Minister Brnjac replied that meetings had been held with the Croatian Institute of Public Health to provide tourists with arrival and departure testing. They had begun discussing processing facilities and providing a sufficient number of testing sites. She also added - standard rules need to be regulated at the EU level. Damir Krešić agreed with this, believing that it must at least be easier to do if testing could not be cheaper.

Selimir Ognjenović, owner of the company I.D. Riva tours appeared on the show from Germany. He says the interest in vacationing in Germany is high. All of these ‘lockdowns’ have resulted in a great desire to travel.

He considers the experience from last year to be the biggest Croatian argument for entering the 2021 season.

"Our guests were protected, and we proved to be an excellent host," he emphasized. "Thirty camps were open all winter. Do you need more proof of trust than that?" he asked.

ORF journalist Christian Wehrschutz said that the question of what conditions the Austrian government will set regarding travel is crucial. If it is a two-week quarantine and an additional test - that's not good. Austrian hoteliers have asked the government for a clear strategy for testing on departure and arrival, the issue of nightclubs, and the vaccination of tourist workers. He believes that Austria will invite its citizens to spend their summers in their country, especially after the catastrophic winter season.

Damir Krešić agreed with that. He believes that small domestic tourist demand is a big problem in Croatia. In other countries, about 40 to 50 percent of guests are locals, while in Croatia, the number is about 10 percent. Therefore, he believes - Croatia should focus on Central Europe's markets and the regional markets of BiH and Serbia, depending on the epidemiological situation in those countries.

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December 4, 2020 – Accepting all known knowledge of the Coronavirus risk and the announced vaccines, security and risk experts International SOS have published their latest, annual Travel Risk Map. It says Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors

With the end of the life-halting Coronavirus in sight, thanks to several effective vaccines announced, which country would be best to visit next year? Well, Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

It's been a long, difficult year for everyone. It's maybe hard to believe if you live in Croatia and haven't much travelled outside the country, but the residents of Croatia have had it no more difficult than anywhere else. With only around 4 million inhabitants, there's lots of space in Croatia to move around.

Take in comparison Britain's London. That one city (1,572 km²) alone has 9 million people. Croatia has 56,594 km² for less than half the number of people. But, this generous amount of space in which to move around is not the only reason Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

On 2 December 2020, Total Croatia News published the annual report based on the Global Terrorism Index, identifying Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 in regards to the absence of terrorist threat and effect. Now, according to the latest annual Travel Risk Map, it has been designated that Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

Security and risk experts International SOS's Travel Risk Map for 2021.

The map, created by security and risk experts International SOS , ranks the safety of countries across the globe taking into account medical, security and road risks. It assesses the risk of political violence, social unrest, and the threat of violent and petty crimes – and, most importantly this year, the impact of the pandemic.

For the first two categories, countries are given a rating out of five, while road safety is rated out of four based on the mortality rate per 100,000 people. The places with the highest risk level for security issues are mostly in Africa, with South Sudan, Mali, Yemen, Somalia and the Maiduguri region of Nigeria listed under the most dangerous, along with the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Ukraine.

International SOS's map showing the countries with the most and least Covid-19 disruption. Very low-risk countries are marked in white, low risk in grey, medium in blue, high in purple and very high in pink.

Very few countries rank above Croatia in the new safety map, New Zealand, Tanzania and Nicaragua among them, meaning Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

For the residents of crowded cities elsewhere in Europe, Australia or the USA who have felt more than restricted in 2020, it might be worth remembering when planning next year's escape that Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

ZAGREB, November 20, 2020 - Member of Parliament Anton Kliman (HDZ) on Friday rejected criticism of tourism boards, saying that tourists do not come to Croatia accidently but as a result of an organised system headed by the Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), which promotes Croatia in the world.

Tourist boards promote our tourism in the world. Large tourism companies generate the most arrivals through tourist boards, the Croatian Democratic Union MP and former tourism minister said.

He underlined that the good work of some of the tourist boards enabled a good tourism season during the coronavirus.

"Abolishing tourist boards would mean chaos. Small providers on the demanding European or global market cannot compete on their own as no one will recognise them," Kliman said during a debate on amendments to the bill on membership fees in tourist boards.

The amendments foresee a 12% reduction of the membership fee to tourist boards as of 1 January 2021.

Opposition parties in the parliament believe the membership fee reduction is not sufficient and they harshly criticised the system of tourist boards and its membership fees, claiming this is a parallel system that serves as a meal ticket.

Bridge MPs were particularly critical and called for the fees to be abolished.

MP Davor Dretar (Homeland Movement) believes that membership fees to tourist boards should be abolished altogether.

MP Hrvoje Zekanovic (HRAST) claimed that there were thousands of people employed in tourist boards, which were their meal ticket, and they mostly serve as a voting machine.

"They spend tens of millions of kuna a year on official trips around Europe and the world to allegedly attract someone to Croatia but for the most part this money is used for living it up with good meals and drink at the expense of taxpayers," said Zekanovic.

That is a parallel system that the ministry has no control of, said MP Dalija Oreskovic (Centre).

MP Zeljko Lenart (HSS) believes that tourism boards' membership fees should be abolished and that another source of financing tourism boards should be found.

September 25, 2020 - Croatia is the 14th most searched holiday destination in the world for next year. With over 810, 000 searches on Google, the country should expect a big return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021

Aside from the drop in numbers, the country's accessibility and the implementation of epidemiological guidelines, the biggest effect the Coronavirus pandemic had on Croatia's tourist season of 2020 was the change in visitor demographic. The British, Americans, Canadians and Australians largely stayed away. All that looks set to change next year as Google indicates a big return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021.

Over 810, 000 searches have already been made of Croatia as a holiday destination for 2021 on Google, informing that many thousands are already researching or actively planning a trip. Croatia ranked 14th among the most searched for 2021 destinations, trailing slightly behind the likes of Italy, the Maldives, Mexico, Thailand, Spain and Greece.

Their language mostly absent from beautiful Adriatic beaches in 2020, English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021 look set to return © Croatian National Tourist Board

The good news for the return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021 was published by the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The data has been taken from a period starting not before March 2020. This means that all searches took place in full knowledge of the ongoing Coronavirus and epidemiological situation. English speaking visitors are undeterred.

Iva Bahunek, the head of the Croatian Tourist Board in Los Angeles has not had the easiest of tasks since the pandemic began. Her appointment is a relatively recent one. Nevertheless, she has clearly done an excellent job of promoting Croatia as a destination for American tourists in 2021. She confirmed the trends are correct - that US citizens are ready for international travel again - by analysing data from the large American travel insurance company Squaremouth. 65% of all reservations for next year refer to international destinations.

Iva Bahunek accepting her Mediterranean Stars Award for outstanding achievement in promoting Mediterranean tourism, awarded at the 6th Mediterranean Tourism Forum in Malta, 2019. She now heads the Croatian Tourist Board in Los Angeles and analysed data which backs up Google's prediction for a return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021

Indications from the British market are the same. Total Croatia News recently published an interview with Vedran Meniga, organiser of a music festival site in Sibenik that successfully hosted over 10, 000 festival-goers in summer 2020. Sadly, they were the only ones who braved it. All of the international music festivals that usually take place on the Croatian coast cancelled their 2020 events.

But, some organisers of these festivals have been seen in Croatia over recent weeks, inspecting improvements to the famous The Garden Tisno festival site, which lies at the approach to Murter island. The festival's hugely popular beach stage has had walls removed, its space widened and now looks very well equipped to take on social distancing advice. Music festivals bring tens of thousands of people to Adriatic beaches each summer and the return of the international events will entice English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021. On the below video you can see Alex Lowes of the Suncebeat Festival and Nick Colgan of The Garden Tisno recently checking out the new layout of the site in preparation for the return of festivals in 2021.

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Zagreb, September 9, 2020 - When was the last time you took a real map, not Google Maps, searching for a good restaurant or an interesting museum? Although today the information about tourist destinations is only two clicks away on our smartphones, the Zagreb company Hello Zagreb proves that real thematic tourist maps are still in high demand.

Croatia, a country that lives off tourism, is visited by millions of tourists every year. To provide them with the best products and services during their stay, tourism workers are constantly finding new and effective ideas to bring closer and present Croatian destinations in the best way.

The project, aptly named Hello Zagreb, was created within the Hello Croatia brand and offers tourists various free themed tourist maps such as Grill, Beer & Burger map showing the locations and a list of pubs and fast food restaurants in Zagreb, or Sweet Spots in Zagreb showing how can you sweeten your sweet tooth in Zagreb. There are also, for example, Best Spots in Zagreb, Pulse of Zagreb (Zagreb 0-24h), 72 hours in Zagreb, and Good Food Guide.

Hello Zagreb thematic tourist maps / Hello Zagreb

Modeled on Barcelona

Sven Darrer, the founder of the Hello Zagreb project, explains that they design maps with special care and love, promoting Croatian cultural heritage, language, customs, and new tourist attractions and trendy locations.

He started making thematic tourist maps for visitors of Zagreb and Croatia after a trip to Barcelona, ​​where he came across a map of the city, which, as he says, fantastically combined information and education. This inspired him to transfer this idea to Zagreb.

"The idea of ​​starting a business of making thematic maps is driven by a strong desire and will to describe our perfect city of Zagreb and other beautiful cities of ‘Lijepa naša’ and present it to tourists and casual travelers through innovative, different, funny stories that represent famous locations, but also less known ones,” describes Darrer.

During the multi-award-winning Zagreb Advent, when most tourists stay in Zagreb, the offer includes maps adapted to that theme. Apart from them, the Gold Edition Luxury Shopping guide and the Night Map are also very attractive ones. A beautiful GLAM map whose name signifies a combination of Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums stands out as an interesting museum map with which Hello Zagreb brings visitors a touch of Zagreb culture.

The Advent Zagreb thematic tourist map / Hello Zagreb

One month for one map

However, although classic maps are a thing of the past due to technological progress, Hello Zagreb proves just the opposite. Namely, Darrer says that tourists are delighted with their thematic maps.

“We are faithful to the good old 'piece of paper' which, after fulfilling its primary function in touring Zagreb and other Croatian cities, remains a lasting memory (souvenir) for tourists, special places, walks, streets, squares, monuments, and experiences from these locations,” says Darrer.

Maps are not for sale but are distributed to all tourist points, tourist boards, info-centers, and hotels, restaurants, bars, and museums.

The team of Hello Zagreb, i.e., the whole of Hello Croatia, functions in such a way that the leader of an individual project first brainstorms an interesting topic, after which it starts to be realized with the help of copywriters and graphic artists. It takes about a month to create each segment of the map, from buying the copyright for the city plan, setting up thematic symbols, writing texts, and, finally, printing maps. Maps are printed from 50,000 to 100,000 copies and are funded by advertising.

The first map in Korean

So far, they have brought out 61 maps, most of which relate to the city of Zagreb. Other maps called Hello Croatia show selected Croatian coastal cities, and they have made nautical maps of all ACI Marinas in Croatia.

Other cities and places represented include Rovinj, Umag, Novigrad, Poreč, Pula, Opatija, Rijeka, Cres, Mali Lošinj, Zadar, Šibenik, Pag, Split, Dubrovnik, and the island of Brač.

"We welcome young back-packers in Croatia with our specialized 'Use-it Zagreb' map, which is part of the European 'Use-it' family, and with which young people can easily get around Zagreb like locals," Darrer points out.

Interestingly, all Hello Zagreb and Hello Croatia maps are in English, which is understandable, since English is used equally by tourists of all other nationalities. However, Hello Zagreb stands out because they were the only ones to issue a map of Zagreb in Korean, which they did, as Darrer says, given the large number of tourists from South Korea who have difficulty with English.

Tourists from South Korea with a Hello Zagreb map / Hello Zagreb

"We still don't have a map in Croatian, but we have prepared a whole series of Croatian phrases and terms for foreigners in our maps in English, through which we introduce them to the Croatian language, but also common phrases and colloquial expressions through which they learn about our customs and culture," explains Darrer.

And this is exactly what modern tourists are looking for today – an authentic experience of a destination where they can meet and experience the lifestyle of local people.

As Darrer explains, they make maps "listening to the needs of the modern tourist, to whom, in addition to information, they also serve a specific experience of our cities through innovative and educational texts."

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020- Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Sunday that she was satisfied with this year's tourist season, with tourist turnover standing at 50% of last year's turnover, or 20% more than expected. 

"According to our projections as well as those of the World Tourism Organisation, we should have been at 30% of last year's result. But we are currently at 50% and realistically speaking, we can be satisfied with those figures," Brnjac told reporters in the Istrian town of Barban, where she attended a local equestrian tournament.

She noted that neighboring countries and other Mediterranean countries had seen a drop in tourist turnover of 70-80%.

Brnjac went on to say that all countries, including those that have put Croatia on the list of epidemiologically unsafe countries, followed the epidemiological situation, and revised their measures every two weeks.

"Epidemiological measures need to be maintained so that the good figures we have had until now could continue. But we must be aware of the fact that in March, April, May and the first half of June we did not have the kind of tourist season we had expected," Brnjac said, adding that she expected good tourism results to continue in September.

"We expect the season to continue, it is not over, but only if we have good epidemiological measures in place and good weather," she said, adding that the epidemiological situation in Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties was very good, which was why they were having good results.

Asked how one should prepare for 2021, which would not be an easy year, Brnjac said that it was of the utmost importance to preserve jobs and stability in the tourist sector.

"Tourism has always been a branch of economy where the situation changes quickly and which adapts to those changes quickly. Making sure Croatia is recognizable as a safe destination that takes care of its guests, along with the continuation of good results, is what gives us the impetus for next year," Brnjac said.

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There's no doubt that Croatia is truly a stunning country with a lot to boast about. From being extremely rich in natural resources to outstanding beauty, there's something for everyone in this very conveniently positioned little nation of a mere four million inhabitants. 

Pristine beaches and the sparkling Adriatic sea, the glitz and the glamour of the Dalmatian coast, Istria's rolling wine country, the funky Croatian capital of Zagreb, the rugged beauty of Gorski Kotar and Lika, to the golden fields of Slavonia and Baranja... the list goes on and on. The Croatian Tourist Board didn't do badly in picking the now classic ''Croatia full of life'' slogan to market the country to the rest of the world, but is it really true? 

Those of us living and working here know very well that Croatia being full of life certainly isn't true in the economic sense, unless it is providing Croatian lives to the labour markets of other countries as some sort of export product, that is. Tourists, however, get to enjoy the freedom of ''surface level Croatia'', it looks a bit like a runway model before she takes her makeup off. The sea, the sunshine, the picturesque scenery and the friendly locals who you'd never know are likely working under less than acceptable conditions paint a beautiful image of Croatia for those merely here to enjoy it. Apparently.

As Glas Istre writes on the 6th of June, 2019, stinking drains and sewers, poor and very limited public transport, overcrowded cities, national parks and beaches, and a total and utter lack of parking places are just some of the far more negative aspects of Croatia that foreign tourists claim to experience when visiting the country. Although it is indeed seen as strikingly beautiful, Croatia, as foreign guests consider it, has enormous problems in managing its destinations, according to a report from Novac.hr.

The perception and brand of Croatia itself is defined by its incredible nature and natural beauty, those are things we can't influence (thankfully, as if we could we'd likely mess them up).

Owing to Croatia's lucky geographical position, as many as 55.6 percent of Croatia-related announcements on social networks or any other websites and platforms mention Croatia's abundance of sunshine, the sea, the beaches and the national parks, which are things that, rather ironically, tourists see as the only good things about the country. Nature, as Siniša Topalović, a partner in the consulting company Horwath HTL states, isn't a term used by the Croatian Tourist Board to brand Croatia.

Croatia Full of Life is not remotely what tourists actually perceive because no events are mentioned anywhere by the aforementioned tourist board. Croatia, at least in the eyes of our visitors, is not full of life, according to Topalović. In fact, only the Croatian capital of Zagreb succeeded in living up to the ''full of life'' slogan. Along with the city's Upper Town (Gornji grad), where tourists are typically delighted with various events and festivals which are now well recognised, both during winter and summer, and tourists visiting the Croatian capital are fascinated by the city's numerous quirky cafés and the cultural phenomenon of coffee drinking throughout the day.

On the other hand, gastronomy, which Croatia is indeed often praised for, is recognised as one of Croatia's ''stand out'' features, either. When tourists write and talk about their visit to Croatia, less than ten percent of them mention the country's food and drink, and when they pay attention to our gastronomy, they do so in a typically very generic manner, mentioning only the basics, whereas when discussing other countries and their gastronomic offers, much more detail tends to be revealed.

However, that is actually in line with what the Croatian Tourist Board does present on their social networks. Of the total of 1,100 published pieces of content on Instagram between July and October last year, only 40 of the posts are about the country's rich gastronomy, while out of 400 such posts on Facebook, only about 15 of them talk about food and drink. Most of the content, as expected, refers to Croatia's natural architecture.

The results of what tourists really think of Croatia were part of pilot studies conducted jointly by the startup thinktourism and the consulting company Horwath HTL through the new eDEST platform, which should serve as a support in managing tourist destinations.

It is, as Topalović explained, an innovative tourism product that provides an insight into tourists' perceptions about a specific country, region, destination or particular tourist attraction. EDEST gathers together all comments, posts and reviews made by tourists from all forums, social networks, blogs and other websites and analyses and compares the perception of tourists about a particular destination with what the destination is actually trying to brand.

''People write all sorts on the Internet, and more than sixty percent of tourists are just browsing when choosing a location to spend their holiday in. With younger generations, this is the case in over ninety percent of cases. Therefore, we collect what they write and publish, and we offer an insight into what tourists are saying about this location, that is, eDEST is able to see the destination through the eyes of the visitor,'' explained James Chappell from Horwath HTL.

The idea for this platform came from the start-up thinktourism, whose employees noted that there was a strong discrepancy between what a particular destination would want and what it actually was portraying in the eyes of visitors.

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As you all know, the beautiful city of Dubrovnik is located along the sparkling waters of the Adriatic, and attracts people from all over the world for its bright blue sea, medieval walls and Game of Throne’s filming spots.

Tourism in Dubrovnik has sky rocketed in the past few years, and a lot of it has to do with the Game of Thrones’ filming locations, which brings 60,000 tourists a year just for that particular reason.

It was reported that in a single day in August of 2016, over 10,000 tickets were bought to walk Dubrovnik’s famous city walls. This heavy influx of tourism has caused excessive pollution, the destruction of animal habitats, and it overloads the infrastructure as well as threatens the culture and heritage of the city. The limestone of Stradun has been gradually smoothed down from thousands of people walking along it with each tourist season, so much so, that the city has had to manually create texture on the limestone with hammers to create some kind of slip resistance.

The prices of homes in Dubrovnik’s Old Town have increased because of the amount of houses being turned into Airbnb’s to accommodate tourists. This destroys a sense of community and inflates the price of property. It has been reported that today only 1,157 people call Dubrovnik's Old City home, compared to 5,000 in 1991. Many argue that Dubrovnik is on its way to become the next “Disneyland”, which has already happened in places like Venice, just across the Adriatic.

Along with the threat of the city turning into a place that does nothing but cater to its many foreign visitors, over construction along the coast is threatening the biodiversity of the land, as well as pollution from the thousands of visitors who walk through the streets of Dubrovnik each day. Dubrovnik is a beautiful city that has a rich history, and it's a no brainer why people want to go within the city’s walls. There needs to be a solution that allows visitors to travel to this uniquely alluring city on the Adriatic, but in a way in which such trends won't destroy the land and the culture.

Any tourist who is interested in planning their next trip to Dubrovnik should see if they're meeting a standard checklist that will keep over tourism from saturating the city. This checklist should make foreign travellers consider the following,

Is the place you are staying at owned by locals?
Are you supporting local businesses and contributing to the economy versus buying items at manufactured souvenir shops?
Are you participating in any excursions that do not respect the environment?
Are you respecting the locals’ culture?
Do you clean up after yourself when visiting the hiking trails or beaches?

By promoting and implementing the use of a kind of checklist for tourists to use to keep these questions in mind when visiting Dubrovnik, visitors and locals are ensuring that there is a way to coexist in a positive manner, where the economy can prosper, and continue to make Dubrovnik a thriving destination for people from all over the world. Making visitors aware of sustainable tourism through promotional advertisements or a simple brochure when they enter Dubrovnik’s walls has the potential to influence their actions.

By supporting local businesses, treating the land as if it were your own, and respecting Dubrovnik's way of life, it is ensuring that the long-term development of tourism in Dubrovnik is sustainable and promotes the harmony of the local economy, the environment and the cultural/social aspects of the city.

SOURCE(S): Overtourism in Dubrovnik from Responsible Travel. (n.d.). Retrieved here.

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