The Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, met on Friday with Professor Ryo Nishikawa from the Department of Tourism at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, one of Japan's most prestigious universities, to discuss sustainable tourism in Dubrovnik. The mayor and his guests, who came from Japan specifically for this occasion, talked about numerous topics, including solving the housing issue for young people through the unique Dubrovnik Housing program, as well as the Respect the City program, which has redirected Dubrovnik's tourism towards sustainability with very concrete results and significantly less congestion in the old city center.
Professor Nishikawa will write about all of these topics in academic publications as well as in a book on sustainable tourism, which is expected to be published at the end of 2025. Mayor Franković, while welcoming the professor and representatives from Rikkyo University, expressed his satisfaction that they have decided to highlight Dubrovnik as a Mediterranean center of sustainable and responsible destination management in the aforementioned book on sustainable tourism.
In addition to his academic work, Professor Nishikawa, who graduated in urban planning, has been researching cultural heritage preservation policies for years, conducting numerous interviews and discussions around the world. In his long career, he has also worked as a researcher for a well-known Japanese tourism consulting company. He specializes in tourism statistics and the development of tourist destinations, which he has been intensely focusing on in recent years. During their visit to Dubrovnik, the representatives from the Japanese university also met with Miro Drašković, the director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, and spent time with the municipal wardens, who play a crucial role in maintaining order, especially during the peak tourist season.