Nowhere suffered more in Croatian tourism last year than its most famous destination – Dubrovnik. Located in the far south of the country, it is heavily reliant on flight and cruise ship tourism for the bulk of its tourism business. Unlike more northern destinations in Croatia which were more accessible by car, Dubrovnik was forced into a rethink on its tourism strategy to deal with the current pandemic realities.
Rather than sit back and hope for the best, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic has taken the initiative to position the Pearl of the Adriatic as a prime destination in the emerging digital nomad tourism opportunity. Dubrovnik hosted Croatia’s first-ever digital nomad conference in October last year, Dubrovnik for Digital Nomads, an event organised by Saltwater Nomads with support from TCN.
(Applications for the competition close on March 31 – you can learn more about it and apply here).
Inspired by the success of that conference and the global interest it generated, the Dubrovnik Mayor and his team have been working closely with Saltwater Nomads and TCN to develop a strategy to attract remote workers to the city. Last week, the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence competition was launched, the first of its kind in the world.
TCN caught up with the Dubrovnik Mayor to talk more about that, as well as the 2021 season prognosis, rumours of direct flights from New York, Dubrovnik’s perception of an expensive destination, and more.
1. You are one of the most famous destinations in the world, heavily reliant on cruise and flight tourism. What was the full effect of the pandemic on Dubrovnik tourism last year?
The figures are the best thing to look at when it comes to testifying to the situation, and they say that Dubrovnik ended the year with 20 percent of the total number of overnight stays when comparing to 2019. The fact that we depend the most on flights hit us the hardest. On top of that, among the most affected in the entire tourism industry is the cruise industry, which also makes up a significant part of tourism in Dubrovnik.
2. In October, you hosted Croatia’s first-ever digital nomad conference. Tell us about the initiative and the opportunity for your city.
Turning Dubrovnik towards digital nomads is part of a serious focus being placed on diversifying our tourist offer and developing new facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected tourism-related economies, and Dubrovnik has felt significant consequences in this regard. At the same time, we have become aware of the fact of just how many people work from home today and how their numbers will only continue to grow over time, and that there are a certain number of people who can do their job from anywhere in the world. Due to this we noticed the possibility of expanding our offer to people who want to stay in a beautiful and comfortable environment, be on a holiday of sorts, and still do their jobs online.
In addition, these are special types of tourists who stay in a destination for longer than average and want to participate in local life by consuming content intended for the local population, not exclusively for tourists. In this sense, the promotion that is realised through the competition we launched is extremely important to us, especially if we know that a large number of influencers are among those individuals.
3. The Dubrovnik Nomad-in-Residence competition is a unique concept. Tell us a little about the type of applicant you are hoping to attract and what your expectations are from the programme.
We expect the programme to map Dubrovnik out as a desirable destination for digital nomads. We want to get first-hand feedback on what is good for digital nomads in Dubrovnik and what needs to be improved. We also expect that in this way we´ll be able to promote the city as a tourist and destination for digital nomads and we believe that all those who will come to stay here will also become ambassadors of Dubrovnik across the world.
4. If you had to summarise in a sentence why Dubrovnik is a great place for digital nomads, what would you say?
I´d say that Dubrovnik has everything you need for a pleasant time when it comes to both working and staying here – beautiful surroundings and a good internet connection, as well as everything that makes life somewhere more beautiful, from the tradition of living in the Mediterranean to the local customs to the very many sunny days per year.
5. There are perceptions in some quarters that Dubrovnik is very expensive and there is not much to do once you walk through the old town. What would you say to that?
Of course, Dubrovnik has its exclusive facilities and offers, as have all of the world’s top destinations. But Dubrovnik has an offer for everyone, from hostels and private accommodation to facilities in attractive and expensive positions, from exclusive restaurants to pleasant city cafes, where Dubrovnik´s locals sit down to drink their favourite coffee.
The historic core itself has so many nooks and crannies that you can go on discovering places for weeks, there are also numerous museums and events. For example, if you are here in winter, you simply have to feel what Christmas in Dubrovnik is like, as well as our thousand-year-long tradition related to the Feast of Sveti Vlaho, the patron saint of Dubrovnik, whom we celebrate on February the 3rd. (You can read more about TCN’s impressions of a visit to the Feast of St Blaise a few years ago here).
In the immediate vicinity near the historic centre of the city is the Lokrum reserve, the Arboretum in Trsteno, the lookout on Srdj, the Elafiti islands with their sandy beaches. The advantage of Dubrovnik is its truly phenomenal environment, from Konavle to Peljesac and the island of Korcula, which both offer, for example, excellent indigenous varieties of wine, great local gastronomy and natural features. There is also the island of Mljet where there is a national park with gorgeous lakes. There is also the very close proximity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, which can also be interesting for day trips.
6. Dubrovnik has had some excellent coverage in the US media over the last year, including 12.5 million viewers on ABC’s Good Morning America, and you currently have an ongoing campaign in 73 US airports. How important is the American market to Dubrovnik?
Along with the British, the Americans are our most important guests. That market is extremely important to us and Americans love Dubrovnik a lot. That´s why there is constant investment in terms of promotion over on the American market. The fact that Croatia was the only country open to American tourists in the whole of the European Union last year speaks volumes about how important the US is to us.
7. Direct flights from the States would obviously help. A new story of a direct flight to Dubrovnik from New York surfaced this week, and Philadelphia and Dubrovnik were connected before the pandemic. Can you share any updates?
That was a fantastic announcement and we certainly support such initiatives. However, neither we nor the Dubrovnik Airport have yet had any final confirmation of these flights. If those announcements really come to fruition, it will be great for tourism here and for those Americans who want to come to Dubrovnik.
8. And finally, what is your prognosis for this season? Will the cruise ships return? And are the days of overtourism in your city gone forever?
The good news is that since March the 1st, the bans on cruise ships to Croatian ports was lifted. It should be noted that cruise companies have invested a lot in passenger safety and we certainly have good expectations in that regard, considering that cruisers should start setting off in May.
Of course, the situation in tourism will mostly depend on the further development of the coronavirus pandemic, but the fact is that we ourselves are working hard to ensure the best possible conditions and to facilitate a smooth arrival in Croatia for tourists. In our most important markets, vaccination is progressing very well, so I´m optimistic and expect that we could have higher numbers in June. Dubrovnik is certainly working a lot on health security and that is a very important factor for us.
As far as overtourism is concerned, in the period before the pandemic we continuously worked on measures to combat that issue through the Respect the City project and we really laid down a good foundation for the future, so we have all the predispositions for the development of sustainable tourism. This period we´re going through now has allowed us to prioritise things and continue with the activities of this project because although we now have a large reduction in the number of tourists, we haven´t given up on the direction of sustainable tourism. We can say that we have recognised the pandemic as an opportunity to “reset”.
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The deadline to apply for the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence competition is March 31. You can learn more about the requirements and apply on the Saltwater Nomads website.
The Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence competition is a partnership between the City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Croatian National Tourist Board, Saltwater Nomads and Total Croatia News.
Looking to learn more about Dubrovnik? Check out the fully updated Total Croatia Dubrovnik in a Page guide.
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