While the Croatian seaport of Dubrovnik has always been a very popular tourist destination for its medieval architecture and head-spinning views of the Adriatic Sea, the city’s true tourist heyday came after it was portrayed as the site of King’s Landing in the hit HBO series “Game Of Thrones.”
While the final season concluded in 2019, the show’s global stardom has resulted in sustained tourist interest to both Dubrovnik and other locations used to film scenes from the show — different parts of Northern Ireland and Iceland for scenes set north of the Wall separating fictional kingdoms.
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But amid the heightened tourism — 4.5 million overnight visitors came to Dubrovnik in 2023 despite the fact that the town is only home to 42,000 permanent residents — come challenges that a small city with historic architecture is not always able to meet.
Dubrovnik to test new caps for tourist buses, taxis
As first reported by travel industry website Skift, the city is weighing the launch of a “special traffic regime zone” to regulate foot visitors through Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town, as well as limit the number of tour buses and taxis that can stop there during popular hours. The city began testing it during peak days last summer and also put up electronic signs to inform visitors of high-traffic periods and collect data on how many people pass through during peak periods.
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“After the trial phase of the special traffic regime system began, as we previously announced, we will continue to inform the public about the collected data,” Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic wrote in a Facebook (META) post. “From the introduction of the Special Traffic Regime Zone until today, the average daily number of vehicles is around 12,500.”
The number of buses and taxis allowed to stop in the Old Town area will also be slashed to just 700 from the 9,000 currently stopping there at peak hours now. The entire Old Town is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Other places taking steps to combat overtourism
The city’s deputy mayor of tourism Kelka Tepsic also clarified that local residents “will be allowed to drive in the area, but cars with [foreign license] plates, such as rental cars and taxis, and other vehicles, will not be permitted in the limited traffic zone.”
A number of cities, and in some cases entire countries in Europe, have been grappling to control the effects of overtourism. The Italian canal city of Venice has been testing a system in which daytime visitors during peak weekend days in the summer had to pay five euros (the program was a seasonal one that is currently being evaluated for effectiveness before being either scrapped or reintroduced for next year.)
Iceland, which has been feeling particular strain on natural areas popular with tourists, has also recently introduced a tourist tax similar to ones other nations work into either the electronic authorization needed to enter the country or as a tax on one’s hotel or vacation rental property stay.
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