Mayor Mato Frankovic participated in the first UNESCO webinar on world heritage called "Re-thinking Urban Heritage for Resilience and Recovery", in the context of the impact of the COVID-19 virus on cities and the resumption of their activities after the global pandemic.
In the difficult time of the global crisis, both health and financial, the City of Dubrovnik was completely left without the main economic branch, Mayor Frankovic emphasized in his address at the first panel.
- At this moment, we are slowly starting with the renewal of tourism, two days ago Dubrovnik Airport established international flights and this season we expect the realization of about 30 percent of last year's tourist traffic. It should be noted that Dubrovnik is a city that is extremely financially dependent on tourism, more than 80 percent of our economy is strongly associated with tourism, and the rest are various other areas that are also indirectly related to tourism - said Mayor Frankovic.
Despite the difficult financial situation, the city administration has not lost sight of the set goals and the need of the city for further development in the right direction, was one of today's messages from Mayor Frankovic.
-You know the history of Dubrovnik in 1991 when the city was bombed, and even then UNESCO observers in their records mentioned the reconstruction and future of Dubrovnik, which should think about how to introduce sustainability in its tourism. Despite the fact that we live from tourism and it is our main economic activity, we do not want to make the same mistake, so this difficult period is also a great opportunity for change and we will certainly use it – Mayor Frankovic said.
Speaking about the renewal of the activities of cities, Frankovic pointed out that the restoration and protection of heritage are dependent on each other, and especially referred to the challenges facing the Dubrovnik city administration.
-The cultural heritage of Dubrovnik is in excellent condition and we are continuously investing in its restoration. The richness of heritage will certainly be one of the comparative advantages of cities under UNESCO protection. I am deeply convinced that UNESCO cities will be rebuilt sooner than others. Heritage is always attractive, and cities will now be even more beautiful with less crowds. All these are challenges ahead of us, and I must point out that we are ready for the health crisis and have solved it well, and the financial crisis is just ahead of us, but I hope that we will face it just as successfully - concluded the Mayor.
In addition to the City of Dubrovnik, the first panel also presented the experiences of the cities of Tunisia, Jaipur, India and the Philippine city of Wigan. Experts Satya Tripathi from the UN Environment and Cherie Nursalim from the GITI Group also joined the panel with their perspective on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on heritage and sustainable urban development.
