May 22, 2021 - The relaxation of measures to combat the pandemic, given the decrease in infections and the current vaccination campaign, is one of the reasons why the American demand for Dubrovnik and Croatia as travel destinations for this summer season has increased considerably.

Dubrovnik undoubtedly stands out as one of the most popular destinations to visit in the summer. And although the city has a lot to offer twelve months of the year, and this is something that has recently been worked on through the digital nomads project as an ideal destination to work remotely, it cannot be denied that its beaches, islands, history, and nightlife place it at the top of the rankings made by hundreds of prestigious tourism and travel magazines and portals each year.

As hrturizam.hr writes, Croatian destinations are increasingly being searched on the US market, so the well-known American magazine Forbes published data that the search and American demand for Dubrovnik on online search engines are continuously growing, said the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board in the USA, Ina Rodin.

Credit: Mario Romulić

A Forbes article states that on the popular KAYAK travel search page, the American demand for Dubrovnik as a travel destination for this summer season has recorded a search jump of as much as 205 percent, followed by Zurich with a growth of 167 percent, Prague with 144 percent and Reykjavik with a growth of 143 percent. The article states that the growth of search is directly related to the easing of passenger restrictions in Croatia and Iceland, and mentions that Croatia and Greece are currently the most sought-after destinations on the Click & Boat boat rental site.

The well-known American television network CNBC states that Croatia's Internet search is growing by 31 percent and Iceland's by 22 percent. Although Americans are expected to travel the most in their own country in 2021, airline searches rose 47 percent after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's optimistic statement hinted that vaccinated Americans could travel to Europe this summer. The renowned American newspaper The New York Times also writes about the conditions of arrival and stay in Croatia, as well as the measures that are currently in force.

The American The Wall Street Journal also makes recommendations for European travel, and the list includes, in addition to Greece, Croatia, and Dubrovnik, which were mentioned as perfect destinations for this year's American vacation.

According to the CNTB, 70,000 overnight stays from the US market have been made in Croatia so far this year, which is an increase of 38 percent compared to the same period last year.

You can learn more about what the ‘‘Pearl of the Adriatic’’ can offer you on your next trip, in Total Croatia’s Dubrovnik on a page, HERE. Total Croatia’s articles are now available in your language!

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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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