As the debate about the tourism backlash continues, two articles from Bloomberg on August 24, 2017, offer a different perspective.
Are we seeing finally seeing the death of the last remnants of socialism in Croatia? Can it really be that a senior official is publicly saying that the Stalinist-style Five Year Plan is no longer in vogue? In the period 1933-18, the Soviet Union produced 45 million tonnes of cement, an increase of 453% on the previous plan, and who cares about the quality? In Croatia, tourism arrivals were up 23% and overnight stays by 22%, and who cares about the quality? This is unofficially the official line. Big numbers good. Quality not important.
And then, somebody – not just somebody, but new Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Frankovic – says something a little different:
“Now Dubrovnik is looking to pivot to “another tourist model, and concentrate on quality, not on numbers,” he said. “Counting arrivals and numbers of nights spent is out.””
Another very good report from Bloomberg and the excellent Jasmina Kuzmanovic, Croatia Has a Plan to Avoid the Tourism Backlash – Get You to Spend More.
Read the article in full in the link above, but it would appear that Frankovic’s desire for a different model is borne out by the statistics – tourists in Croatia spend less per person than they do in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, to say nothing of more developed tourism countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal. Some lessons to be learned by someone?
A second Bloomberg article offers advice on where to go to avoid the crowds of the more popular destinations, and here Croatia features twice. Those bound for Dubrovnik are rerouted to Tel Aviv, while instead of Ibiza, the advice is to head for Hvar.
I must admit to a slight internal groan when I saw the title – Hvar, the new Ibiza is more than a joke to me. There are a total of five nightclubs on the entire island, one of them a former egg factory in the middle of nowhere. But here too, the message of Mayor Riki Novak’s intentions to crack down on the more debauched aspects of the town’s party tourism seems to be getting through. And perception is everything in modern-day tourism.
“Try Hvar. Both Majorca and Ibiza are setting restrictions on tourism this month, including maximums for the number of hotel beds and Airbnb apartments available at any given time. But Ibiza is going a step further: The party haven is banning DJs from 16 beach clubs to crack down on electronica and put the focus back on the environment.
“If what you’re after is a nocturnal, sleep-on-the-beach summer-fest for 2018, head to Hvar instead. It shares Ibiza’s pull-up-in-a-yacht glamour, with a reputation for excellent beach clubs that’s been gaining steam over the past decade. And new clean-up campaigns on the island are keeping things classy: New mayor Riki Novak is curbing public debauchery with threats of heavy fines, making it clear that drunken, shirtless backpackers aren’t what Hvar is after.”
Read the second Bloomberg article here.
