August the 18th, 2024 – The Makarska tourism direction is finally altering for the better after two whole decades of beach chaos and over-construction along the coastline.
As Morski writes, the deputy mayor of Makarska, Antonia Radić Brkan appeared on HTV’s Studio 4 show and revealed that the Makarska tourism direction is finally changing.
For many years now, Makarska has been revered as one of Croatia’s most beautiful tourist destinations. However, for those same long years, there were also numerous complaints precisely because of the overtourism that couldn’t possibly be avoided there. Months before this summer season arrived, the local government began to introduce new rules and some proper order.
On the main city beach, numerous fences have now been removed, parking zones have been expanded, and a new museum of the Biokovo Nature Park has been opened. The final thing to have been arranged was the proper disposal of waste. Makarska now has special cards for waste collection, which brings order to the issue of illegal rentals as well.
“We have containers that are locked. All those who pay for their waste collection get special cards. The results have been great. When we compare how things were from January to August 2023 and 2024, apart from what we have for mixed waste, the correct sorting of paper, plastic and glass has started,” she said.
the new makarska tourism direction will also tackle the issue of too much construction
“So far, the recycling of paper, cardboard, plastic and glass has increased by 50 percent. The number of local people who use these communal services has increased significantly,” she added, before turning to the problem of overbuilding. She pointed out that the way things were being built in Makarska for 30 long years cannot be changed in a few years.
“We decided to deal with the problem that has been plaguing Makarska for years and which leads us to the fact that we cannot deliver a sufficiently high-quality service to tourists when the crowds keep on getting bigger. We’ve made changes to the spatial plan. We started doing this back in 2021 in order to create some intervention measures as soon as possible. They’ve already given us good results,” she noted.
“We included several categories. One of the basic ones is the ban on the construction of multi-apartment buildings. Makarska, with the mountain above it and the riviera, cannot handle such large residential mastodons in a visual sense, so that was the first thing we ruled out,” she explained
the new tourism act brings an end to beach chaos
“As soon as it’s voted on, we’ll start creating a proper destination management plan. It’s up to us to build the image of this destination, to return it to authenticity and to deliver the infrastructure that is in our domain so that tourists and local people can function normally during the season,” she said.
She also talked about the revitalisation of the old city centre, in such a way that both merchants and guests are satisfied.
“Our goal was to protect business owners and craftsmen who work legally and create additional value for our city. At first there was little resistance. After 20 years of beach chaos, no one wants to give up three months of work with a very good income and no obligations throughout the year,” she stated.
She also commented on the age-old issue of people coming and reserving a place on the beach with towels.
“Everything that gets left on the beach is no longer the property of the person who left it, but is deemed as having been left as garbage. Our municipal wardens will simply pick it up and get rid of it,” she concluded.
