August the 14th, 2024 – Croatian overtourism has been a topic on the lips of many in the tourism industry for years now, and Dubrovnik just keeps on popping up in negative headlines. There are 27 tourists per one inhabitant of the Pearl of the Adriatic. A damning and unsustainable figure.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, an analysis carried out by the Holidu portal has put the spotlight firmly on the busy holiday destinations across Europe that are particularly overcrowded. They did this by calculating how many tourists there are per capita in each given location.
croatian overtourism: Dubrovnik is the most overcrowded destination in Europe
Although it’s very well known that the number one in the ranking, Croatia’s southernmost city of Dubrovnik, has been suffering from an increasing number of tourists for years, the numbers determined by Holidu are still surprising. According to the analysis, there are an incredible 27 tourists per inhabitant in Dubrovnik, reports N1.
The main reason for this is probably the hype that the medieval port city on the Adriatic experienced as a filming location for the cult series “Game of Thrones”. The Dubrovnik Tourist Board told the German TRAVELBOOK that they’re working to better regulate the number of visitors. They’ll do this using various measures to combat the issues that have made the city the king of Croatian overtourism.
This includes, among other things, a system for predicting the number of visitors or limiting the simultaneous arrivals of cruise ships to two per day. According to the tourist board, studies have already confirmed positive trends in the distribution of the number of visitors in Dubrovnik.
Greece, Italy and Portugal dominate the top 10
However, the front-runner of Croatian overtourism, Dubrovnik, only narrowly secured first place. The destination which ranked in second place also has an impressive 26 tourists per inhabitant. We’re of course talking about a wildly popular Greek island. You might be shocked to learn that it isn’t the small and chronically overcrowded Santorini, but Rhodes.
The capital of Crete, Heraklion, also made it into the top 5 (4th place with 18 tourists per inhabitant). This number could soon increase significantly – because when the new airport in Crete opens, up to 18 million tourists could swarm into picturesque Heraklion annually, seeing a massive swell compared to the current 9 million.
Venice in neighbouring Italy, the epitome of excessive tourism, came in third place with 21 tourists per inhabitant. The price of a ticket to visit Venice, which will apply from next year onwards, is unlikely to change this infamous ranking.
Another Italian city, Florence, came in fifth place with 14 tourists per inhabitant. The Portuguese metropolises of Lisbon and Porto also found themselves among the 10 most crowded holiday destinations in Europe with 11 tourists per inhabitant.
the cities with the most tourists in Europe
Dubrovnik, Croatia, 27 tourists per inhabitant
Rhodes, Greece, 26 tourists per inhabitant
Venice, Italy, 21 tourists per inhabitant
Heraklion, Greece, 18 tourists per inhabitant
Florence, Italy, 14 tourists per inhabitant
Reykjavik, Iceland, 12 tourists per inhabitant
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 12 tourists per inhabitant
Lisbon, Portugal, 11 tourists per inhabitant
Porto, Portugal, 11 tourists per inhabitant
Dublin, Ireland, 9 tourists per inhabitant
Athens, Greece, 9 tourists per inhabitant
Paris, France, 7 tourists per inhabitant
Nice, France, 7 tourists per inhabitant
Bruges, Belgium, 7 tourists per inhabitant
Prague, Czech Republic, 6 tourists per inhabitant
Copenhagen, Denmark, 5 tourists per inhabitant
Milan, Italy, 5 tourists per inhabitant
Edinburgh, Great Britain, 5 tourists per inhabitant.
