The challenges facing Dubrovnik’s tourism industry, from the explosion of Game of Thrones tourists to the constant flood of cruise ships, has been making the news all over the world. Dubrovnik is certainly no longer in the shadows as a tourist destination, far from it, it is now and has been for the past few years well placed in the middle of the spotlight.

International film productions, such as Star Wars, Robin Hood and in particular Game of Thrones, have opened the city to a whole new generation of tourists. The growing number of American tourists is clear evidence that movie tourism is now one of the main sources of tourism to the city. In 2016 the second most numerous guests to Dubrovnik were Americans, which when you take into account that there are no direct flights from the US to Croatia goes to show the pull of the HBO serial.

One of the largest TV stations in Brazil, yes the Game of Thrones is truly a global phenomenon, Globo broadcast a program about Dubrovnik and the Game of Thrones syndrome and invited the editor of The Dubrovnik Times, Mark Thomas, to give his opinion.