The holiday destination turning tourists away
Croatia is an increasingly popular travel destination due to the country’s natural beauty and charming old towns seemingly untouched by modern life, but a spike in tourism is causing problems in the idyllic nation.
Often referred to as the “Pearl of the Adriatic”, Croatia’s picturesque city of Dubrovnik is popular with cruises due to its wonderful location, but it will soon start turning tourists away.
Dubrovnik is at risk of losing its UNESCO World Heritage Site status due to a spike in tourism in recent years and the city’s mayor Mato Frankovic has proposed capping the number of tourists that can visit per day.
Read more: Croatia fines tourists for common behaviour
According to The Telegraph, UNESCO recommends the city caps the number of visitors to the city at 8,000 but Frankovic is going a step further, putting the cap at 4,000.
“I am not here to make people happy, but to make the quality of life [in this city] better,” Franković said.
“Some of the cruise lines will disagree with what I’m saying, but my main goal is to ensure quality for tourists and I cannot do it by keeping the situation as it is.
“It is a fact that we need to reduce [the] number of tourists, especially ones coming from cruises. Our aim for the next year is to reduce it to 4,000 at a time.”
Popular TV show Game of Thrones is said to be in part to blame for the overcrowding problem, as Dubrovnik
Article source: https://travel.startsat60.com/articles/the-holiday-destination-turning-tourists-away