Smart Solutions for Sustainable Tourism Pearls: How to Live Between Culture and Tourism in Dubrovnik

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems 21(3), 272-296, 2023 SMART SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PEARLS: HOW TO LIVE BETWEEN CULTURE AND TOURISM IN DUBROVNIK Iva Tolić Mandić, Sanja Tišma, Daniela Angelina Jelinčić and Damir Demonja* Institute for Development and International Relations, IRMO Zagreb, Croatia DOI: 10.7906/indecs.21.3.5 Regular article Received: 24 October 2023. Accepted: 24 June 2023. ABSTRACT Dubrovnik is one of the most visited destinations on the Adriatic coast. However, the large number of visits is affecting the heritage area of the city, and since the Old City of Dubrovnik have been under the UNESCO protection from 1979 it is important to achieve the balance between tourism and sustainability of the heritage site. The use of smart and open data can improve tourism flow management in cultural heritage sites. The aim of this article is to identify innovative solutions, with the support of new technologies and big data, in order to reduce negative impacts of tourism on cultural heritage sites. The set of indicators are defined and a holistic model is proposed to analyse these data and use them in sustainable management of cultural heritage cities. The newly developed smart holistic models are presented in the case of the City of Dubrovnik since it is largely dedicated to tourism. The analysis of tourist flows in the City of Dubrovnik has been done following a system of indicators developed by the Agency for sustainable Mediterranean cities and territories in the framework of Interreg Mediterranean project HERIT-DATA that consists of 21 indicators divided into 6 groups. A large number of tourists are affecting not only space and infrastructure, but also the life of residents. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance to manage tourism in a more holistic and sustainable way and to find the balance between tourism and its economic contributions and sustainability. The proposed set of indicators and a new smart holistic model will help policy makers, destination managers, cities and sites to anticipate and manage the tourism flows in a smarter way. The results of the analysis showed that the overtourism in Dubrovnik has still not affected the infrastructure and environmental conditions, but it greatly affects the residents of the city and their quality of life. Also, the smart solution for managing the tourism flows in the Old City of Dubrovnik already exists, in the form of Application for the prediction of the number of visitors, but it should be used in a way that helps better manage the tourist flows. KEY WORDS sustainable tourism, Dubrovnik, cultural heritage, smart solutions, big data CLASSIFICATION JEL: C53, C55, O18, O21, Q54, R58, Z18, Z32 *Corresponding author, ƞ: , +385-1-4877-477; *Institute for Development and International Relations, Lj.F. Vukotinovića 2, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia Smart solutions for sustainable tourism pearls: how to live between culture and tourism ... INTRODUCTION Dubrovnik, also known as the “pearl of the Adriatic” is one of the most visited destinations on the Adriatic coast. In 2021, it was the third most visited Croatian city with the total of 518 000 tourist arrivals. However, as large number of visits is affecting the heritage area of the city, and since the Old City has been under the UNESCO protection since 1979, it is important to achieve balance between tourism and sustainability of the heritage site. In order to do so, first steps have been taken when UNESCO recommended the maximum number of 8000 tourists daily. But, the City of Dubrovnik is still facing the problem of overtourism, which is defined as “the excessive growth of visitors leading to overcrowding in areas where residents suffer the consequences of temporary and seasonal tourism peaks, which have caused permanent changes to their lifestyles, denied access to amenities and damaged their general well-being” [1]. The aim of this article is to identify innovative solutions, with the support of new technologies and big data, in order to reduce negative impacts of tourism on cultural heritage sites. In order to deal with the problem of overtourism, first it is necessary to analyse management of tourism flows to observe the sustainability of different heritage sites under the pressure of tourism. The set of indicators has been developed with aim to analyse data on the tourism flows and to use them in sustainable management of cultural heritage cities. These indicators analyse not only the tourist overcrowding, but also environmental and economic conditions, perception of overcrowded places, quality of services and residential quality of life, since the overtourism affects not only space and infrastructure, but also the life of residents. To avoid the negative effects of overtourism, it is of the greatest importance to manage tourism in a sustainable way and to find balance between tourism and its economic contributions, and sustainability. A way to improve the tourism flow management is the use of smart and open data. This article tries to answer the question whether the smart solutions introduced in the Old City of Dubrovnik, i.e. the cameras that count the number of people in the historic centre, affect the number of visitors, and if not, what other digital solutions can help dealing with overtourism in Dubrovnik. PREVIOUS RESEARCH In the past forty years, the tourism has grown rapidly, mainly due to increased demand for mobility, leisure and unique experiences. The consequences of the tourism growth are pressures not only to cultural and natural heritage, but also pressure on life of residents. Debates concerning the pressure from tourism activity and dependence on tourism sector have helped tourism practitioners to shape policies and plan interventions. However, in most cases, policies and interventions were made to help solving problems associated with tourism, rather than addressing the underlying root causes to reach a long-term solution. Over time new terms “overtourism” and “tourismphobia” have emerged to describe rapid unfolding of unsustainable mass tourism practices and the responses that these have generated amongst academics, practitioners and social movements concerned with the use of urban, rural and coastal spaces for tourism purposes in a damaging and harmful manner [1]. According to Milano, Cheer and Novelli the term overtourism implies loss of sense of belonging, diminishment of sense of place, increased congestion and privatisation of public spaces, explosive growth of cruise tourism, rapid growth of tourism and day visitors, the rise in tourism induced real estate speculation and associated decline in power parity of local residents compared to visitors, dismantling of sociocultural connectivity and the mainstream of special niche tourism practices in vulnerable places such as national parks, small islands and critical cultural heritage places [2]. Overtourism can have an impact in multiple ways – it is harmi (...truncated)