The walled city’s popularity surged after it was used as the set for King’s Landing in the 2010s (Image: Getty)
It is arguably one of Europe’s, if not the world’s, starkest examples of overtourism in real time – and now, a blueprint for how to fix it. Between 2011 and 2018, the Croatian coastal city of Dubrovnik served as the primary real-world filming location for King’s Landing, the capital of Westeros, in HBO’s world-renowned TV series, Game of Thrones.
Dubrovnik’s medieval stone walls, dramatic sea cliffs and baroque architecture brought the fictional capital and surrounding regions to life from season two onwards. It didn’t take long after its release for fans of the show to cotton on to the filming location, and soon they were turning up in their millions – via plane, coach and cruise ship – to walk for themselves Cersei Lannister’s gruelling barefoot Walk of Atonement, or snap pictures of Blackwater Bay and Fort Bokar, the site of the explosive clash where Tyrion Lannister defends the city against Stannis Baratheon’s invading fleet.
For Mayor Mato Franković, GoT tourism helped put Dubrovnik on the map, but also brought challenges they were not prepared for (Image: supplied)
According to estimates, Game of Thrones drew around 60,000 dedicated location-spotting tourists to Dubrovnik each year. Between 2012 and 2015 alone, the show directly brought more than 244,000 visitors to the city, accounting for roughly half of Dubrovnik’s overall 10% annual tourism growth during active filming.
However, it also did wonders for the Croatian economy, with regional studies indicating that the film-induced tourism generated over €180 million (£154.2 million) across the country through 2018. Local businesses experienced major boosts in themed walking tours, accommodation bookings, and merchandise sales.
“There were pluses and minuses [to the tourism surge],” Dubrovnik’s mayor, Mato Franković, told the Express. Looking back over the last decade, Mr Franković recognised that the exposure was ultimately a positive force, placing the ancient city on the map for a whole new demographic.
“It gives a young generation […] who thought we were just a filming location [the chance to learn] about Dubrovnik and why it was established,” the mayor – who was born and raised in the city – explained.
The Jesuit Staircase, where Cersei Lannister was forced to walk naked through the streets in Season Five. (Image: Getty)
King’s Landing as seen in Games of Thrones. (Image: PA)
However, the sheer speed of the Game of Thrones phenomenon caught the city off guard. By 2015 and 2016, the rush of screen tourists combined with unmanaged cruise ships pushed the UNESCO-renowned site to its absolute limit. It even faced threats from UNESCO itself over the removal of its World Heritage status.
“We really had a lot of people coming in […] they were part of mass tourism,” Mr Franković recalled. “Everyone [was] arriving without any order, without any control, without any tourism management. Then you had a disaster. The first hits were very heavy.”
According to data analysed by Holidu, Dubrovnik was Europe’s most over-touristed city, with 27 tourists per capita – dwarfing the crowd density of hit hotspots like Venice (21 per resident), Rhodes (26 per resident) and Amsterdam (12 per resident). By 2017, the crisis had reached a breaking point, landing Dubrovnik on global watchlists for overtourism. Realising that unchecked popularity threatened the very fabric of the city, local authorities launched a dramatic turnaround strategy – the Respect the City project.
Developed in collaboration with the University of Dubrovnik and aligned with UNESCO recommendations, the long-term initiative replaced guesswork with data-driven management. Rather than letting crowds flood the narrow limestone alleyways unchecked, the city introduced digital monitoring tools and timed-entry systems to track visitor flows in real time, spreading tourists out throughout the day and year.
Cruise ship tourism has played a big part in Dubrovnik’s overtourism, but is now strictly controlled. (Image: Getty)
The municipal government also took aim at the two biggest culprits of local gridlock – cruise ships and traffic. Under strict new regulations, port authorities now co-ordinate schedules to cap cruise arrivals at just two ships at a time, limiting total passengers to 4,000 and demanding an eight-hour minimum stay to allow passengers to properly explore the main highlights.
Meanwhile, the Special Traffic Regime around the historic core has dramatically reduced road congestion, with nearly 300,000 fewer vehicles recorded in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Unlike other global hotspots that have struggled with tacky commercialisation, Dubrovnik also managed to keep cheap “tourist tat” merchandise at bay. While one official Game of Thrones store operates in the city, local laws have strictly limited the rise of low-quality souvenir shops.
“The rest is very low,” Mr Franković said. “We don’t see it as an issue.”
Today, the mayor believes the dark days of chaos are firmly in the past, offering a blueprint for other historic cities struggling under the weight of their own popularity.
“Luckily, everything is behind us,” he added. “When we put things in order, now everything is fine […] we can now learn where we made a mistake, and what should and can be done better.”
What do you think about this?
Drop your opinion in the comment section.
Share this with someone who needs to see this.