The correlation between cruise tourism and overcrowding in Dubrovnik Old City

Overcrowding of the Dubrovnik Old City, a heritage site protected by UNESCO, has become one of the most discussed issues today. Public perception is that cruise ship industry is the biggest variable that affects an increase in overcrowding effect. This research investigated to what degree, if any, cruise ships account for overcrowding in the Old Town. The methods of this research were statistical analyses of two variable data sets from June to August, 2017: number of visitors in the Old City (MaxCount) and number of cruise passengers arriving in Dubrovnik (Cruiser). The results showed that the relation between Cruiser and MaxCount is inconsistent, but generally positive with the highest difference in analysis of June and August. The research indicated that cruise passengers significantly affect overcrowding in the low-season periods. However, cruise passengers do not significantly affect overcrowding in the high-season periods due to additional tourist flows