From Dubrovnik’s Overcrowding To Trebinje’s Booming Future In Bosnia And Herzegovina, How Locals Are Pioneering A New Era Of Sustainable Tourism

Published on September 24, 2025

The tourism industry, particularly successful regions that person agelong been favorites among travelers, is encountering increasing issues. The fame of definite destinations has led to overcrowding, biology degradation, and important strain connected section infrastructure and resources. Famous spots for illustration Paris and Dubrovnik person faced expanding unit owed to nan precocious number of tourists, forcing section authorities and tourism professionals to reevaluate their approaches. In consequence to these challenges, researchers, peculiarly those funded by nan European Union (EU), person been moving connected strategies to redirect tourism to less-visited areas. These strategies purpose to let for continued maturation while ensuring that it remains sustainable, without negatively impacting nan situation aliases section communities.

One of nan towns benefiting from this caller attack is Trebinje, located successful nan confederate portion of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite being successful adjacent proximity to Dubrovnik, which draws millions of visitors annually, Trebinje has managed to flight nan overwhelming influx of tourists. This has provided nan municipality pinch a unsocial opportunity to build a tourism assemblage that avoids nan communal pitfalls of overcrowded tourer hotspots, allowing for maturation while still maintaining nan town’s unsocial charm and taste integrity.

Overtourism and its Impact connected Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, a stunning coastal city, serves arsenic a premier illustration of nan consequences of overtourism. With a organization of astir 41,000, Dubrovnik saw complete 1.4 cardinal visitors successful 2024—a staggering number erstwhile compared to its resident population. This utmost imbalance has caused important strain connected nan city’s infrastructure, raised surviving costs for locals, and reduced nan value of life for residents. These challenges underscore nan dangers of unchecked tourism and nan value of observant readying to guarantee that nan tourism assemblage tin turn without damaging nan situation aliases society.

In ray of Dubrovnik’s struggles, Trebinje faces a important decision. As tourism increases, nan municipality must create its assemblage carefully, learning from nan mistakes of its neighbor. The cardinal takeaway is that sustainable tourism improvement should attraction connected maintaining a equilibrium betwixt nan economical benefits of tourism and nan well-being of section communities. The experiences of Dubrovnik person highlighted nan request for measures to debar overcrowding and to guarantee that tourism does not undermine nan section measurement of life.

Sustainable Tourism Strategies successful Trebinje

To guarantee that Trebinje develops its tourism assemblage successful a sustainable manner, nan municipality participated successful nan TExTOUR project, an inaugural funded by nan EU aimed astatine testing caller models for tourism improvement successful lesser-known regions. The project, which concluded successful September 2024, focused connected engaging section communities successful nan readying and improvement of tourism strategies that align pinch their interests and taste values. The inaugural worked intimately pinch nan residents of Trebinje, allowing them to stock their imagination for tourism and ensuring that caller developments would bespeak nan town’s unsocial identity.

The community-driven approach cardinal to nan TExTOUR task progressive actively engaging residents astatine each measurement of nan process. Instead of relying connected external, one-size-fits-all solutions, nan task squad collaborated pinch nan section organization to place nan town’s strengths and interests. This attack ensured that nan tourism strategies designed for Trebinje were some authentic and sustainable. By focusing connected section engagement, nan municipality was capable to foster tourism that is some beneficial for nan organization and respectful of its taste heritage.

This strategy emphasizes nan value of section information successful tourism development. As Daniel Basulto, a conservation master progressive successful nan project, pointed out, tourism must meet nan needs of nan community, not conscionable cater to tourists’ demands. The exemplary ensures that tourism successful Trebinje contributes positively to nan section system and is delicate to nan social, cultural, and biology dynamics of nan town. The process of involving residents successful shaping their tourism early has been cardinal to creating a much balanced and semipermanent tourism strategy.

Leveraging Technology for Sustainable Growth

Technology played a captious domiciled successful nan TExTOUR project by helping to negociate tourism flows and amended nan visitant acquisition successful Trebinje. Tools for illustration QR codes and sensors were introduced to supply visitors pinch real-time accusation astir section practice sites, events, and different attractions. These technological innovations allowed nan municipality to negociate nan number of visitors astatine cardinal sites, helping to debar overcrowding and guarantee that visitors could bask a much relaxed and meaningful experience.

However, while exertion supported tourism management, nan bosom of nan task remained nan progressive information of nan section community. Residents had nan opportunity to beryllium progressive successful nan decision-making process, helping to guarantee that nan improvement of Trebinje’s tourism was successful statement pinch section values and nan town’s semipermanent sustainability goals. This technological approach, paired pinch organization engagement, aligns pinch nan European Commission’s attraction connected invention and sustainability successful tourism.

By utilizing exertion to some negociate tourism flows and heighten nan visitant experience, Trebinje has taken important steps toward creating a tourism exemplary that benefits everyone involved—both locals and tourists. Technology, erstwhile utilized thoughtfully and successful collaboration pinch nan community, tin support sustainable tourism without compromising nan taste aliases biology integrity of nan region.

A Blueprint for Other Regions: Lessons from Vale do Côa

While Trebinje was a cardinal attraction of nan TExTOUR project, nan inaugural besides progressive different regions facing akin challenges. Vale do Côa, located successful northeastern Portugal, is different illustration of a destination dealing pinch nan pressures of tourism. The region is location to 1 of Europe’s largest collections of Palaeolithic stone art, which has earned it a nickname arsenic a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, nan accrued attraction from visitors has raised concerns astir preserving nan tract while still allowing for responsible tourism.

In consequence to these concerns, nan TExTOUR project engaged section communities successful nan preservation and promotion of Vale do Côa’s heritage. Workshops were held to train some young and older generations to go cultural caretakers of nan stone art. This inaugural allowed nan organization to actively participate successful nan protection of their practice while besides reaping nan economical benefits of tourism. It demonstrates really organization engagement successful tourism tin thief equilibrium preservation pinch development, ensuring that some section residents and visitors tin use from nan site’s taste significance.

The lessons from Vale do Côa show that involving nan organization successful tourism improvement leads to much sustainable and equitable outcomes. This exemplary of community-driven tourism tin beryllium applied successful different regions facing akin challenges, allowing them to sphere their taste and earthy practice while still processing their tourism industries successful a responsible manner.

The Long-Term Impact of Community-Driven Tourism

One of nan cardinal takeaways from nan TExTOUR inaugural is that community-driven tourism is captious for nan semipermanent occurrence of immoderate destination. The experiences of some Trebinje and Vale do Côa show that erstwhile section communities are actively progressive successful tourism readying and development, nan results are much sustainable and beneficial for each stakeholders. By prioritizing section engagement and taste preservation, some regions person managed to create tourism strategies that protect their practice and support their section economies.

The occurrence of these projects highlights nan value of processing tourism models that are profoundly rooted successful section civilization and values. In some Trebinje and Vale do Côa, nan attraction connected sustainability and organization engagement has shown that it is imaginable to create thriving tourism industries that use everyone involved. These regions connection a exemplary for different destinations successful Europe and beyond, showing that tourism tin beryllium some economically beneficial and culturally sensitive.

For nan world recreation industry, these projects connection important lessons successful really to equilibrium maturation pinch responsibility. Sustainable tourism is nary longer an optional approach—it is basal for nan early of nan industry. By engaging section communities and utilizing exertion to negociate tourism flows, destinations tin create experiences that use some travelers and nan regions they visit.

Looking Ahead: A Global Shift successful Tourism Practices

The lessons learned from Trebinje and Vale do Côa tin beryllium applied to tourism destinations astir nan world. As nan antagonistic effects of wide tourism proceed to beryllium felt globally, location is an expanding request for much sustainable and responsible recreation practices. The occurrence of community-driven tourism successful these regions demonstrates that it is imaginable to create tourism models that prioritize some section communities and visitors, ensuring semipermanent benefits for all.

As nan tourism manufacture continues to accommodate to nan challenges of overtourism, Trebinje and Vale do Côa supply a glimpse into nan early of travel. By shifting nan attraction distant from overcrowded hotspots and toward lesser-known regions, location is an opportunity to create much balanced, sustainable recreation experiences that use some nan situation and section communities. The increasing liking successful responsible tourism indicates that travelers are progressively seeking retired destinations that connection authentic, culturally rich | experiences while minimizing their effect connected section ecosystems.

In conclusion, nan early of tourism will dangle connected nan expertise to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt attracting visitors and protecting nan taste and biology integrity of a destination. The examples group by Trebinje and Vale do Côa show that pinch observant planning, organization involvement, and nan usage of innovative technologies, it is imaginable to create sustainable tourism models that use some travelers and nan regions they visit. By embracing these strategies, nan recreation manufacture tin thrive successful a measurement that respects some section cultures and nan earthy environment, ensuring a agleam early for generations to come.