“When we talk about green ports, we mean sustainable ports, the ones that properly distribute traffic, have clear rules and expect them to be respected. Shore power electricity, air quality measurements, environmentally friendly terminals, electrified shuttle transport by road and the use of the sea transport option is my image of sustainable port and sustainable destination.”
Jelka Tepšić, Deputy Mayor of DubrovnikJelka Tepšić is the Deputy Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik, as well as honorary consul to the Kingdom of Spain since 2014. She is a professor of the Spanish language, literature and Comparative literature and has over 30 years of experience in tourism, communication, media and marketing. In the City of Dubrovnik, Mrs Tepšić is responsible for tourism, sustainability and culture. During her work in past years, the city has been developing strategic, long-term project called “Respect the City”. She has participated in many congresses worldwide where she presented this project, which deals with innovative integrated development and focuses on the sustainable development of tourism in the city. She showed how the City administration faced with the problem of overcrowding, ensuring a better distribution of visitors and suppressing the negative effects of over-tourism. This Project was recognized as an example of good practice in destination management at the World Congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) in Krakow. Mrs Tepšić was a speaker at the GSTC2023 Sustainable Tourism Conference in Antalya, Türkiye (9-12 May, 2023), an event Ecoclub.com had the great pleasure of supporting as Media Partners. You may watch a recording of her presentation here.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: For the past two decades, you have held important policy-making positions in an iconic tourism destination. Was that your original career plan, and what still motivates you in your work?
Jelka Tepšić: Achieved results are the best motivation. The path towards sustainable tourism is demanding, it is a process that requires daily work and coordination of stakeholders, with special emphasis on listening to the needs and wishes of the residents. Very often, the motive is the residents' dissatisfaction with a situation and their desire to change that situation, and in positions where we are standing, it is our duty to constantly work on new solutions.
In the old port city of Dubrovnik
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: Overtourism in Dubrovnik nearly lost the city its UNESCO status in the mid 2010s. How successful has your 'Respect the City' programme been in tackling overtourism before the pandemic and what key measures did it involve? Who decided and still decides on the content of this degrowth programme? Do local citizens directly take part in the formulation of tourism policies, or is this role mainly reserved for tourism businesses?
Jelka Tepšić: The City of Dubrovnik developed the strategic project Respect the City in 2017. We began tackling the difficult challenge before us through different measures and, in a relatively short period of time, we began managing our destination. So yes, it was successful. In the process, we got to immediately implement some actions to organize traffic and setting new rules for public space management. Tourist info stands, restaurant tables and illegal bookers were removed from most critical streets and the crowds diminished immediately, mobility of people and vehicles is improved. Dubrovnik integrated smart city solutions: a web platform predicting the number of visitors in the Old Town on a given day, smart parking, Dubrovnik Card application for visitors, web cameras on city roads, car sharing project. Considering cruise ships, in cooperation and in common interest with cruise companies, the City managed to make adjustments on short terms and started to work toward a long-term solution which basically means meticulous planning of cruise arrivals/departures daily, weekly and annually. Decisions were made jointly by the Mayor and I as the city administration, but, what is very important, in coordination with other stakeholders, from the cruise companies to the Dubrovnik Port Authority, with whom we have excellent cooperation. All our measures are a reflection of listening to the needs of our citizens.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: Apparently you were successful in negotiating limits with the cruise industry. Is there a specific negotiating tactic to be followed by other ports or destinations? In other words, in a negotiation with a powerful cruise line or a powerful airline, how can the destination maintain the upper hand?
Jelka Tepšić: In fact, it was enough to show them photos of passengers from their ships "trapped" in the crowd and they immediately knew what we were talking about. After we had such a huge problem with crowds and overtourism, Mayor Franković wrote a letter to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to set a meeting. The Mayor showed them an image of the Dubrovnik streets, which were at that point over-crowded with the tourists, standing packed in on the main street, Stradun and told them "these are yours passengers and you are giving them a bad experience and creating bad marketing for the City of Dubrovnik". At that point, they asked what our proposal was. And that is where we started to work together.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: How bad was the pandemic for a tourism-dependent city such as Dubrovnik? Are you taking any measures to diversify the local economy so as to shelter it from similar future events?
Jelka Tepšić: It was quite a difficult period. Dubrovnik lost significant money, additionally due to the fact that we are primarily an airline destination. Of course, we also considered other options. Tourism remains our main economic activity, however, we also work on diversified forms of tourism, such as offers for digital nomads and film tourism. Especially during the pandemic, the focus was on working from home, so we saw the potential for Dubrovnik in digital nomads, people who can do their jobs remotely. We started with this story three years ago, as the first in Croatia, when we organized a conference for digital nomads, then several more events and initiatives followed, so that last year we were included in the TOP 10 Savills Real Estate Executive Nomad List. In this sense, Dubrovnik has a lot to offer, especially in the months outside the main tourist season.
Another type of tourism proved to be good even in the time of the pandemic: screen tourism. In the midst of the corona crisis, in September and October 2020, three film production companies filmed in Dubrovnik. In 2021 alone, over 25 film crews stayed here, most of them from abroad. Also, the City of Dubrovnik is preparing a project for the establishment of a film studio, in order to provide world productions with even better conditions for filming in Dubrovnik.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: On the other hand, could it be argued that successful TV Shows like the Game of Thrones, partly filmed in Dubrovnik, in particular, combined with Cruise Tourism, were probably the key causes of Overtourism in the mid 2010s? Is there a lesson there for other destinations carelessly laying the red carpet for the film industry and the cruise sector?
Jelka Tepšić: I wouldn't say that these were the only "key factor", there were many more reasons - the totality of insufficient management of the destination, unplanned cruise tourism, inattention to the needs of the residents, disregarding the fact that it is necessary to have a good quality for the stay for tourists, the desire for commercialization - the combination of these factors made it "lose measure "and that excessive tourism occurs.
At the Tourban project Summit in Dubrovnik, March 2023
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: Are there concrete benefits from obtaining destination certification? And what are the key differences of a green cruise ship port from an ordinary one in your view?
Jelka Tepšić: Of course, the GSTC assessment confirmed that our efforts are correct and pointed out some 'weak points' that need to be worked on further. When we talk about green ports, we mean sustainable ports, the ones that properly distribute traffic, have clear rules and expect them to be respected. Shore power electricity, air quality measurements, environmentally friendly terminals, electrified shuttle transport by road and the use of the sea transport option is my image of sustainable port and sustainable destination.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: Dubrovnik has had a tortured history, changing hands many times between powers. In 1991 there was considerable damage from shelling during a 7-month siege. Extensive repair and restoration has allowed the city toat become once more a leading destination, however has tourism also helped repair and restore relations (and tourism flows) with other peoples of the former Yugoslavia?
Jelka Tepšić: Yes, economic ties that include tourist activities have been revitalized, cooperation is good, especially with Montenegro, which is a favorite destination for tourists from Dubrovnik for one-day trips, as well as vice versa.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: Expanding capacity appears to be a doubled-edged sword. Since before the pandemic, the privatised Piraeus Port Authority is trying to obtain permission to significantly extend the cruise port with a new pier to allow for more mega-cruise ships to dock, and the proposals have met with considerable opposition from local citizens, environmentalists and archaeologists. Based on your experience, is it in general a sensible policy to expand cruise ports so as to allow even bigger ships?
Jelka Tepšić: My personal opinion is that such investments must be well prepared in such a way that they are followed by the Berthing Policy, which rules allow the berthing of larger ships but under strictly controlled conditions, especially if the port is equipped in a way that meets environmental standards.
At the Brussels Cruise Dialogue
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: You recently shared lessons learned in Dubrovnik at the GSTC2023. Did you also receive any useful feedback, something you had not thought of? How can such events be even more useful for professionals like you?
Jelka Tepšić: They are always useful because new experiences are gained at such conferences, getting to know the work of other destinations. Our cooperation with GSTC will certainly continue because, as I have already pointed out, through destination assessments we "raise awareness" of whether our activities are in line with sustainability goals, with benefits for residents and visitors.
Antonis Petropoulos - Ecoclub.com: Thank you very much for sharing your experiences and your successful efforts to tackle overtourism and make Dubrovnik a green port!