May 2, 2020 — Dubrovnik will try to salvage what promises to be a brutal summer tourist season by seeking special status to bypass some travel restrictions while the city’s Tourist Board launches a promotional campaign luring guests back to the Pearl of the Adriatic.
Mayor Mato Franković predicted 2020 may be Dubrovnik’s most uncertain summer season since the 1990s war. He predicted a complete economic collapse if flights remain grounded throughout the summer, with 80 percent of the economy evaporating by spring 2021.
The mayor and city’s Economic Council asked the Croatian government to grant Dubrovnik special status to bypass epidemiological travel restrictions so at least affluent guests can visit. They sent a letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli requesting a green light for charter flights, especially from the U.K., as well as private jets and mega yachts.
Only tourists with a negative test result administered in the last 48 hours would enter, according to the proposal.
Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković said a summer without inbound flights will devastate the local economy.
The 2020 summer season remains uncertain for Croatia. Even the most optimistic forecasts predict plummeting revenues, with some estimates dipping as low as 80 percent of 2019’s bonanza. Still, the tourism-dependent nation began seeking ways to reopen borders without setting off another wave of infections.
Croatia’s measures start at home. The government expects free movement within the country will resume soon so Croats can head to the coast to visit family or second homes.
Cappelli has also pushed for opening borders with neighboring countries — if the virus allows. Plenković’s government hopes Croatia can maintain its draw as an automotive destination for nearby states such as Czechia, Hungary, and Austria, reducing its reliance on arrivals from further across the European continent, Asia and Doha.
The benefits of such a scheme will bypass Dubrovnik. Many of the city’s guests come via direct flights and cruise ships — not by car. The pandemic halted all non-essential travel.
Dubrovnik Airport’s General Manager Frano Luetić expects a 70 percent drop in traffic this summer.
“We are witnessing something unlike we’ve ever seen in peacetime. We have been left without any traffic,” Luetić said.
Croatia Airlines will resume domestic flights to Dubrovnik on May 11, but that won’t bring the city’s target guests.
The Tourist Board’s ad campaign, “Dubrovnik is not going anywhere, it is waiting for you,” began May 1, hitting social media feeds in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Slovenia. The promos will also appear in the Croatian market, as well as other markets as airlines resume flights to the Dalmatian coastline.
These plans align with recommendations from experts like Zoran Pejović, who suggests emitting a confident message while reminding disappointed travelers their destination will outlast the virus.
The city has enjoyed some perverse positive press as the spiritual and literal birthplace of quarantine. But its isolation and stay at home orders have worn on locals longing to navigate the Stradun and meet for a coffee.
Dubrovnik has 112 confirmed COVID-19 infections since the pandemic started, with no new cases in the last 24 hours.
The coastal city’s tourism council reduced the Tourist Board’s pay by 15 percent. It then tasked Director Ana Hrnić with re-jiggering the staff and organizational makeup.
