By IBIP Student Natalie

Today, we visited the old town of Dubrovnik to hear about its progress as a smart city. It was our
pleasure to listen to Mato Frankovic–the mayor of the city of Dubrovnik–as he explained the
different stages of tourism that the city went through. In fact, before 2017, Dubrovnik was
overcrowded with no security and with a low tourist satisfaction rate. To combat this, tourism was
divided into three branches to be controlled: cruise ship, daily, and overnight tourists. This
enabled the city to better counteract overcrowding, ensuring a mutual respect and preservation of
culture and heritage.

After the meeting with the mayor, our class met with Dubrovnik’s tourist board. There we learned of
their collaborative work with the mayor’s office on these smart initiatives. They noted that
Dubrovnik’s tourist season was expanded as an indirect result of their cruise ship control. An
Italian cruise ship company decided to forgo Dubrovnik as a summer
destination, establishing a new program that would make it a travel destination during the winter
months. This was just one example that demonstrated the benefits of the city’s efforts to
skillfully regulate tourism for both tourists and citizens.

For those of us that were Game of Thrones fans, Dubrovnik became the highlight of the trip.
However, others of us got to enjoy the city’s beaches, water activities, museums, and more! You
see, Dubrovnik has easy access for all. Through its website, people can see the flow of visitors in
the city and thus choose whether they want to enter the city at that point in time or
later. Dubrovnik is a city that sustainably caters to all walks of life!