The beautiful cobbled streets of the historic center of Dubrovnik have become a headache for the few residents that tourism has not displaced to less bustling neighborhoods. The multitude of tourists who walk through it every day loaded with suitcases looking for their accommodation has made the residents of Dubrovnik demand a solution to noise pollution, especially at night, when the noise of the wheels of the suitcases on the cobblestones keeps them in sail
That is why the mayor, Mato Frankovic, launched Respect the City before the start of the summer, an initiative that recalls the famous campaign against incivility in Barcelona by the mayor Jordi Hereu. Like the Catalan capital, Dubrovnik seeks to end the consumption of alcohol and food in historical monuments, walking in a swimsuit through the streets or letting dogs loose. But the most controversial measure has been the noise of the suitcases under a fine of 265 euros, urging tourists to carry them instead of rolling them on the ground, something that has led the Croatian government to take action on the matter. At the moment the measure is on standby, but the message has already spread.
The prohibition is nothing more than the reflection of an attempt by the local authorities to bring some order to a city that is dying of success, and more so after the successful Game of Thrones series made it one of its main filming sets. . With a population of 41,000 inhabitants, Dubrovnik received 1.5 million tourists in 2019 (before the pandemic) and, so far this year, it already has 289,000 visitors and 763,500 overnight stays, with which local authorities estimate that they will become to record pre-pandemic figures. This means that for every inhabitant it receives about 34 tourists, which makes it one of the European cities most overloaded with tourists, followed by Venice, Bruges and Rhodes, with 21 tourists per neighbor each (according to the latest report from the Holidú rental platform).
That is why the city of Dubrovnik launched an informative animated video with the aim of educating visitors on how to be mindful when exploring the historic center declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The animation shows the type of behaviors that the city would prefer not to see tourists, like walking dressed in beach clothes in the historic center. A clip where a tourist is also seen dragging a suitcase on wheels and disturbing the peace of the neighbors. The Croatian National Board of Tourism has stepped forward by issuing a statement on the use of suitcases: “The Dubrovnik city administration has not implemented, nor does it have any intention to introduce, any sanctions regarding the use of suitcases in the center historic," he says in a statement. And he emphasizes that it is only a recommendation.
It is not the first time that Dubrovnik has tried to implement some kind of control over its tourism. In 2017, it was Unesco itself that addressed the tourist authorities asking to limit the number of visitors arriving in the city at the same time, requesting a quota of 8,000 tourists per day. This meant putting a stop to the fans of Game of Thrones, a series that after its broadcast caused the number of tourists to rise, especially young Europeans, at a rate of 10% per year. Also that of cruise passengers, which in 2022 was 400,000 travelers, compared to 800,000 in 2019.
But putting a stop to a sector that accounts for more than 20% of the country's GDP is very complicated (the data for 2022 closed in Croatia with 18.9 million travelers and 104.8 million overnight stays). And even more so when they have just entered the euro zone and its attractiveness as a sun and beach destination can plummet as it ceases to be an economic destination, compared to what the Spanish, Greek, French or Italian coasts offer, its main competitors.
