The town of Dubrovnik in Croatia has long been renowned for its heritage value. It has now even made to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. However, this has led to the town being clogged by mass tourism. On an average, each day brings in 8 cruise ships, each laden with about 2000 tourists in a town of barely 2500 permanent residents. While these ships do pay docking fees on the ports, the tourists do not spend much at local shops or restaurants as they have all-inclusive deals on their ships themselves. Thus, the generation of local tourism jobs directly as a result is sparse. This year number of visitors has risen further due to the buzz generated from Croatia’s magnificent display at the Football World Cup, resulting in a 6% rise in inbound tourists. A particularly busy day saw 13 cruise ships alight on the port. As a result of this overcrowding, residents have planned the “Respect the City” campaign though it is yet to formally start. The town of Ohrid in Macedonia is also being touted as a possible diversion to reduce the numbers. The popularity of Dubrovnik has further surged due to its association as one of the filming sites for the hugely popular TV series- “The Game of Thrones”.

Source:https://www.voanews.com/a/mass-tourism-threatens-croatia-s-game-of-thrones-town/4581869.html

Uploaded Date:16 October 2018