The year behind us was indeed very successful for Dubrovnik as both a meeting and a tourist destination with numerous positive trends, awards, and achievements. Excellent tourist results were recorded throughout the year; a larger number of passengers passed through Dubrovnik Airport than the previous year. Dubrovnik won three prestigious world tourism awards and was declared the champion of Croatian tourism, shining as a MICE destination in 2023.
Best meeting destination in Croatia
At the very beginning of the year, the first recognition for Dubrovnik as a meeting destination arrived. Namely, it won the Meetings Star Award for the best meeting destination in Central and Southeast Europe, in the category of M destinations that can accommodate up to 1,200 participants. In addition, the head of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board Convention Bureau, Romana Vlašić, was listed among the most influential people in the meeting industry in the region.
On the ICCA ranking of international association meetings markets, published in May 2023, Dubrovnik achieved its best position to date, ranking 44th among European destinations and 66th in the world, with 29 live association meetings held.
Thanks to the achieved results, awards, and held world meetings and events, Dubrovnik has positioned itself at the forefront of meeting destinations in Croatia. It gained worldwide fame and a good reputation thanks to its historical landmarks and natural beauties, which are further enhanced by its high-quality meeting and incentive offerings. This is evident in the interest of international buyers, who were very successfully presented to at the meeting industry trade shows MEETEX 2023, IMEX Frankfurt 2023, IMEX America 2023, and IBTM World 2023.
Champion of Croatian tourism
As part of the 11th edition of the Leisure Lifestyle Awards organized by the specialized magazine Global Traveller in June, Dubrovnik was named the best resort destination for group arrivals in 2023. The awards were based on a survey conducted among the magazine's readers from December 6, 2022, to April 1, 2023, with a special emphasis on the luxury segment and lifestyle.
In addition, Dubrovnik also won the World Travel Award in two categories - as Europe's Leading Cruise Destination 2023 and Europe's Leading Coastal Metropolitan Destination 2023. Given the global company it was in; these awards are of great importance to Dubrovnik. Namely, among the candidates for the leading cruise destination award were cities such as Oslo, Lisbon, Venice, and Copenhagen, while for the leading coastal city destination, giants such as Barcelona, Istanbul, Porto, and others were competing.
Towards the end of the year, at the Croatian Tourism Days held in Rovinj, Dubrovnik won the most important tourism award in Croatia. It was declared the Tourist Destination of the Year - the champion of Croatian tourism, further confirming its attractiveness and the quality of its tourist offer, as well as destination management.
Tourist traffic: 20% more arrivals, 9% more overnight stays, 12.5% more passengers at the airport
According to the unique national online information system eVisitor, which contains tourist traffic realized in commercial and non-commercial facilities, Dubrovnik recorded 1,244,159 tourist arrivals during 2023, which is 20% more than in 2022, and 3,885,431 overnight stays, which is 9% more. Of these, 679,574 guests stayed in hotel accommodation, which is a 23% increase compared to the previous year. Most of them were guests from the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Croatia, Ireland, Australia, Spain, Finland, and Canada - markets that are usually the most significant for Dubrovnik.
A total of 2,416,818 passengers passed through Dubrovnik Airport “Ruđer Bošković” during 2023, which is 267 thousand more passengers compared to 2022, representing an increase of 12.5%. Although the record number from 2019, when almost 2.9 million passengers were recorded, has not yet been reached, Dubrovnik is looking at a new record this year, considering the announcements of new routes and increased capacity on existing ones for the summer flight schedule. It is likely that in 2024, the number of accepted and dispatched passengers on an annual basis will exceed 3 million.
It is worth noting that the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, in cooperation with the City, continued numerous activities of the Respect the City program during 2023 to achieve a balance between tourism results and the preservation of the quality of life of residents. Thanks to this program, Dubrovnik has successfully positioned itself as a leader in sustainable tourism in the international professional community. The effectiveness of the program is reflected in the increased number of visitors outside the main season and the extended summer flight schedule, as well as the extension of the season by one week in November. By further working on this program, encouraging visitor diversity while reducing dependence on the season and further developing the meeting offer, Dubrovnik has laid healthy foundations and continues to build the path towards sustainable tourism.