Is Game of Thrones tourism bad for the city of Dubrovnik?
Game of Thrones?was a worldwide phenomenon, with fans from all over the globe tuning in each week to watch the ongoing battle for the Iron Throne. And plenty of those fans literally took their love overseas, traveling from far and wide to see the locations where the show was shot.
That includes Dubrovnik, a Croatian city of about 42,000 people that may be best known now as the real-life King’s Landing. When PBS visited the city, tourists were eager to tell them how excited they were to be there. “I remember when I first watched it, it was just ‘Oh my God!'” said one. “Croatia, this is was like one of the things I was looking forward to the most,” said another. “Literally the Game of Thrones tour.” Dubrovnik, a beautiful city with old-fashioned medieval walls, was already a draw for tourists, but?Thrones?made it a mecca.
And local businesses are happy to cater to tourists’ desires. At the sight of Cersei’s walk of shame, tour guide?Ivan Vukovic pointed out where people could but “shame cocktails, shame mojitos, [and] shame burgers.” I don’t know quite how those are different from normal cocktails, mojitos, and burgers, but it?does?kind of make me want to travel to Dubrovnik and find out.
But that?could?be a problem, as Vukovic explains. “Somehow it got to be overtourism,” he said.
There is too many. Sometimes there is way too many, because we live in a Medieval city which is surrounded by the walls. So you can’t pack 20,000 people to be in a city which was designed for 7,000 people. So I call it in my way a blessing and a curse.
Waiter Lujo Jurecic is also of two minds. “It is a good thing, we earn our living from it. So it is a good thing,” he said. But also…
I think Dubrovnik has lost its interest as in a town, as its history, by it’s become more like Game of Thrones, King’s Landing. It’s a step forward to bring more people here, but I think Dubrovnik is losing its authenticity.
The city has taken measures to curb the worst of the unintended consequences from the tourism boom by limiting the number of cruise ships and tour buses that can be in the city at one time, cutting the number of?souvenir stands by 80% and banning loud music after 11:30 p.m. But that’s not going to solve all the problems. The city’s Old Town used to have 3,000 people living in it, but now, with homes being converted into vacation rentals, that number is down to 1,000. “I think everyone who lives here will eventually move away,” said bar owner Stjepan Peric. “The city will be like a museum, and people will pay a ticket to get in. They won’t see a living city.”
Mayor?Mato Frankovic is also mindful of the careful balance his town has to strike. “We have a lot of visitors coming just because of Game of Thrones,” he said. “Is that good? It’s good!” Because they’re going to see something new and something unique. But this is again, we are coming in the beginning, and this is at the management of tourism.”
“This town needs to live, and needs to continue for the future,” he added. “No one wants to come in dead town.”
So is Dubrovnik a victim of its own success, or of the success of?Game of Thrones? Can it find a way to balance the influx of tourists with the needs of its permanent citizens. Time will tell, but you can check out Dubrovnik?Game of Thrones?tours here.
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