Anybody planning to go to Dubrovnik this summer time ought to be aware of a brand new rule when packing for his or her trip: suitcases on wheels are not welcome within the charming Croatian metropolis’s previous city.
The picturesque walled metropolis sees an enormous inflow of tourists annually – which is inflicting a headache for locals irritated by the click-clack noise of wheeled suitcases rumbling via the cobbled streets at night time.
Newly launched laws state that suitcases should be carried and never dragged via the streets of the city. For now, wheeled luggage will nonetheless be permitted, although the wheels should not be used. Anybody caught rolling their baggage faces a effective of $290 (€265). It’s unclear how this would possibly influence anybody unable to hold a case resulting from a bodily incapacity.
The initiative is a part of a wider plan to ban all baggage from Dubrovnik by November. Beginning within the fall, guests will probably be required to go away luggage and suitcases at a chosen spot exterior of the town’s partitions earlier than guests are permitted to enter the previous city. Guests must pay a courier to have their luggage delivered to their lodging by electrical automobile.
No baggage permitted within the previous city
Dubrovnik mayor Mato Franković made the choice to ban wheelie circumstances as a part of new measures aimed to cut back detrimental results of overtourism. Dubrovnik has a inhabitants of 41,000 – and in 2019 (earlier than the pandemic) welcomed 1.5 million vacationers. A further noise-reducing measure simply launched will see cafes and bars with terraces the place the noise stage exceeds 55 decibels face fines and enforced seven-day closures.
The town’s tourism authority has produced a brand new video, “Respect the Metropolis,” which will probably be proven on cruise ships docking at Dubrovnik and on Croatian Airline flights arriving within the nation. The video advises on the behavioral greatest practices for anybody visiting: don’t stroll round with no high on, don’t experience a motorcycle or electrical scooter within the historic middle and don’t climb or work together with monuments.
Unesco has previously warned that Dubrovnik’s world-heritage standing was in danger from the disrespectful hordes. Again in 2017, the town made efforts to make the town extra sustainable, together with limiting the variety of tour buses and cruise ships docking within the port. But given the post-pandemic journey growth, Dubrovnik has seen a surge in guests. Mayor Franković has cautioned: “A very powerful factor is that Dubrovnik has stopped being a metropolis of extreme tourism, though we nonetheless have quite a lot of work left.”
