Guest Columnists - Cruise Ship Tourism and It’s Influences on Dubrovnik
Does Cruise Ship Tourism hinder or enhance a destination? This September when we were staying in the Lapad area of Dubrovnik, we would venture out onto our balcony, count the number of cruise ships and then make a decision whether we would go into the Old City or not! More often than not there were more than three ships berthed below us.
When we visited the Old City to walk the walls it was at 8am in the morning and when we took a guided tour it was after 4.00pm. By 10am after walking the walls dense crowds were making their way in as we were trying to make our way out and vice versa at 4pm.
A week later we took our first cruise - a Repositioning Cruise from Balboa in Spain to Colon in Panama and had shore visits to Lisbon in Portugal and the Island of St Maarten. Both places relied on the tourist dollar, especially St Maarten, and Dubrovnik does as well. But! Is there a limit? When does the tourist dollar become detrimental to the locality, if at all? St Maarten has the biggest cruise port in the Caribbean and tourism is their number one industry, the island would suffer deeply without it. Lisbon is different it is the capital and Portugal’s major industry is the wood industry and it’s related off shoots such as cork and paper. Lisbon does not get the cruise numbers that Dubrovnik experiences.
Two days after we left Dubrovnik over 7,000 passengers were expected to dock and all of them would no doubt end up in the Old City. Two million tourists visit Dubrovnik each year – one million by cruise ship and one million staying at least one night.
There are two types of cruise passengers. Those who enjoy cruising as a safe, ordered way to travel the world, and others who will use cruising as a way of stopping off at different ports in a view of coming back and spending longer in that destination at some later date.
There are two points of views from the locals, those who welcome the cruise passengers as they are involved in the hospitality industry and those who live in the Old City where personal space and privacy is an issue. A report from 2013 states that the average cruise passenger spends $50 USD per day in Dubrovnik, where as the traveller who bases themselves in Dubrovnik can spend up to 3 times that amount. What is more beneficial to Dubrovnik is of course the longer term traveller whose dollar is spread widely throughout with accommodation being the greater expenditure, followed by meals, entrance fees, etc.
We understand that the quality of life within the city has diminished for the locals. They know that their accommodation is sought after by foreigners who are willing to pay more than 7,000 Euros per square metre for the privilege of being inside the City Walls. It costs more for deliveries, food and groceries costs are higher in the Old City and there are diminishing numbers attending the local primary school. Locals are fed up with their photos being taken hanging out the washing, people peering in their windows or watching them doing their every day chores.
Even travellers are boycotting Dubrovnik and the Old City because of the crowds. We did, but we staggered our visiting times.
What impact do these large numbers have on the physical environment? 7,000 people traipsing over the Old City Walls, through the museums and down the Stradun and into the Churches –how long will it be before any damage is irreparable.
We love Dubrovnik as a destination; there is so much to offer the traveller from the wines of the Pelješac Peninsular to the local food and good restaurants, the islands, the history, the people and the culture. We want the beauty of Dubrovnik to be there for our grand children and their children.
Could there be a solution? Is there a way of limiting the numbers of cruise ships on a daily basis? What about a two-night limitation where cruise passengers can spend more time visiting areas outside the Old City, creating an economic solution for more to reap the benefits?
We are 50/50. We can see the pros and cons of both sides. Cruise ship tourism is essential for cities to thrive and for the residents to enjoy a better standard of living but it is at a cost! If you wish to read more about our experiences in Dubrovnik and other destinations please check out www.totraveltoo.com
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Who are the TO TRAVEL TOO team
Jane Dempster-Smith
Co-Founder, Flashpacker, Travel Guru
Over the past four decades, Jane’s passion for travel has taken her to over 44 countries. She has lived and worked in Australia, UK and Singapore. With extensive experience in all aspects of travel from airport ground staff to air hostessing, retail, corporate and group travel, she has flown in two seaters, hot air balloons and even the Concorde. Jane offers her skills to baby boomers who want to change their lives; to travel light and travel far.
Duncan Dempster-Smith
Co-Founder, Flashpacker, Philosopher
Having travelled for both business and leisure, Duncan has lived in Malta, UK, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. In his past life he held senior roles with global multinationals in manufacturing, distribution and sales. In 2013 he embraced a life change based on the philosophy: ‘chase time not money’. His ambition is to support fellow baby-boomers who want to fly the empty nest – and see the world.
Wild Boars take a stroll to Dubrovnik
Well this is something you don’t see every day, wilds boars in Dubrovnik. The photo, of what appears to be a family of wild boars, was published on the Facebook page “Live from the Streets of Dubrovnik” this morning.
Whilst wild boars are not unusual in the countryside surrounding Dubrovnik the sight of them on the main road into Dubrovnik is rare.
READER'S PHOTO Interesting car parked in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik has many people visiting it all the time and every one of them has an interesting story. Some we discover and some stay yet undiscovered – just like this with the interesting car parked in Dubrovnik that was sent by one of our readers.
Car is full of stickers, letters and words that we can't really understand, but it's easy to recognize the flag on the hood – South Korea. Also, there is a sign saying ''Seoul –> Morrocco'', so we can only guess that the car and its owner have been on the journey of the lifetime. We wish them a safe trip, wherever they're going next!
Honda keeps the tradition of Croatia as THE location for commercials
Honda and the Croatian city of Rijeka definitely love each other. The famous Japanese car and motorcycle manufacturer has already filmed several commercials in the Croatian city. One of them was Honda's excellent commercial for its Civic Type R car which achieved huge success around the globe.
A video that was filmed in Rijeka for the latest Lexus car was released recently, and these days Honda announced another one that was shot in the streets of Rijeka again as well as at the Grobnik race track. In addition, this summer Honda filmed a video for its new version of NSX car also in Rijeka.
The latest motorcycle commercial is renewed version of the Honda's motorcycle CBR1000RR Fireblade which will be presented on the market next year.
Loris Majcan, the young Croatian motorcyclist and national champion in the 1000 SST class stars in the latest advert as he rides the Honda Fireblade around Rijeka.
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, aircraft, motorcycles, and power equipment. It has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, whilst in 2011 it was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, Nissan, and PSA Peugeot Citroën.
Check out this stunning new Honda commercial
American State Department ranks Croatia on risk list
The State Department has recently issued a general alarm in the EU to all Americans who want to travel across the Atlantic for the Christmas holiday season. Due to increase risk of terrorist attacks in Europe the State Department has listed the possible dangers for US tourists.
With so many people on the move for Christmas it makes sense release such warnings. The State Department has stated that when it comes to Croatia as a Christmas and New Year destination the security level is much higher than the “old” European Union. However they have added that there is no threat of terrorism in Croatia and that it is not on the list of countries that American citizens need to avoid.
Of course this doesn’t mean that there isn’t any risk when holidaying in Croatia. The first risk for tourists is the areas of the country that still have mines from the Homeland War in the early 1990’s. They add that the mined areas are well marked and further information can be found on the internet. The US estimate that Croatia will be mine free by the 2018.
One of the largest investments in the Croatian tourism industry is underway. The Kupari resort, the former military resort, was destroyed in the Homeland War in the early 1990’s and has remained as a reminder of the war ever since. The site contains five hotels, including a hotel which was constructed in the early 1900s; the new plans are that all these hotels will be destroyed to make way for a five-star resort with a Marriott as the centre piece. Kupari is located in the borough of Zupa, around six miles from the centre of the Old City of Dubrovnik.
Over the past weeks smoke has been rising from the Kupari site as the cleaning of the grounds has begun.
This year the complex was purchased on a 90-year lease by the Avenue Group from Austria and the plan is that by 2020 the resort will once again shine with a Marriott International hotel and possibly even a Ritz Carlton. But who is behind the investment? The majority owner of Avenue Group is the Russian billionaire Sergej Gljadelkin, the owner of more than twenty companies worldwide. Avenue Holdings operates in France, Austria and Switzerland and the main activity if construction and recycling. It is estimated that the annual revenues of the umbrella company are around $500 million.
Sergej Gljadelkin started his business career in Russia where his company built commercial and residential properties. Although he was connected to a few construction scandals in Russia he successfully managed to stay out of the press limelight. He is generally a private person and the early parts of his career, and how he amassed his first millions, are almost impossible to uncover. Over the years he has continued this shadowy relationship with the media and hardly ever gives interviews or even statements.
Sergej Gljadelkin Photo - Darko Tomas / CROPIX
His first steps in Croatia came in 2004 when he founded the construction company Titan, the largest project was the construction of a residential – commercial building in Zagreb. In 2011 Gljadelkin sold Titan to his fellow Russian Konstantin Edel.
According to the website SEEbiz.eu, last year Gljadelkin reignited his interest in Croatia and took the majority control of the construction company IGH, the country’s largest architectural and consulting company in the construction industry. IGH had seen a boom of business in the early 2000’s but were facing bankruptcy before Gljadelkin took control. He invested 58 million Kuna into IGH and became the 51.3 percent majority shareholder. And the Kupari project will be another boost for IGH as of course they will be heavily involved in the reconstruction and redevelopment of the future site.
Nature's Viagra in the Dubrovnik sunshine
With temperatures in the twenties and warm sunshine all day in Dubrovnik some people took to the Adriatic Sea to “cool down.” The sea temperature in Dubrovnik was around 18 degrees today; however it was easy to warm up in the endless sunshine. And with the swimming and diving also came a rather unusual delicacy from the sea, Sea Eggs.
“Come and try one of these,” commented a group of swimmers on the Porporela Beach, pointing down at a plate full of fresh Sea Eggs. These sea urchin type crustaceans may look a little unpleasant; however we jumped in and tried them. Apparently they are nature’s version of Viagra and aphrodisiac in one. Washed down with a glass of wine they certainly hit the spot.
Croatian cheese takes gold medal at international competition
At the 20th World Cheese Awards held in San Sebastián in Spain last week a Croatian cheese producer from Pag won the gold medal for The Best Hard Sheep-Milk Cheese.
From the 16th to the 18th of November at the Euskadi-Basque Country International Cheese festival 2016, the World Cheese Awards organization awarded the best cheese of the world at this most important championship and gastronomic event of this type.
In the competition of over 3,000 cheeses from 31 countries from all over the world the cheese producer Paska sirana from the island of Pag known for its world famous Paski sir (Pag cheese) was awarded the Super Gold Medal for The Best Hard Sheep-Milk Cheese in Central and Eastern Europe. Only 66 Super Gold Medals were awarded in all categories thus it put Paski sir among the best 66 cheeses in the world.
‘’This is the best present for our 70th anniversary. Once again our Paski sir proved that is worthy to be in the best of the best group, whilst the Pag cheese makers reaffirmed their top quality and skills in the cheese production. The island of Pag is truly the Croatian cheese Mecca’’, said the cheese makers from Pag.
The competition was very strong and many renowned cheese experts from Australia, France, Mexico, Spain, the US and the UK judged at this cheese festival of the year.
Dubrovnik Teddy Bear gets a fashion accessory
The symbol, some would say mascot, of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival is obviously feeling the cold at night. The keep out the chilly evenings the Teddy Bear now has a rather natty new accessory, a red scarf. The Teddy Bear must be the most photographed decoration in the whole of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival.
And he isn’t the only one to have updated his wardrobe; Orlando also has a funky red scarf. Everyone is getting into the festive spirit.
Free tickets all over Europe with Ryanair
The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has announced its new airline connection from Denmark to the Croatian city of Zadar for its summer schedule in 2017.
According to the Irish air carrier the new flight from Zadar to Copenhagen will operate twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays from the 3rd of July to the 28th of August 2017. Previously Ryanair operated flights from Zadar to Denmark on the line Zadar to Billund in central Denmark, but the line was cancelled. With this new line Zadar will be connected with Copenhagen for the first time with a regular service. So far only charter flights have operated from Copenhagen to Zadar.
In addition, Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair, has announced that airline tickets for their flights could be free of charge by 2026. He substantiated his ambitious plan with figures and his calculation was quite clear. Ryanair would generate its income from increased financial offer that they recieve from airports from which their aircraft take off. ''I have this vision that in the next five to ten years, the air fares on Ryanair will be free, in which case the flights will be full, and we will be making money out of sharing the airport revenues, of all the people who will be running through the airports, and getting a share of the shopping and retail revenues’’, explained O’Leary.
The Voice of Dubrovnik
