Headlining Dubrovnik's Tourism Image: Transitioning Representations/Narratives of War and Heritage Preservation 1991–2010

Dubrovnik became a premier resort destination while part of the former-Republic of Yugoslavia. On the 1st of October 1991, the Balkans War began in Dubrovnik casting a negative image and abruptly halted the tourism industry. This study presents a longitudinal analysis of the interplay between media presentations and war. The purpose of this paper is to identify transitions in newspaper headlines and associated textual content representing contextual narratives of Dubrovnik's destination image. This work identifies periods of transition by locating changing representations of war and local preservation efforts in narratives and associated productions of Dubrovnik's tourism image over a 20 year period, 1991ndash;2010. Headlines and content during the period of war display the unmaking of Dubrovnik's tourism image. After the siege of Dubrovnik, locals were quick to respond; however tourism did not recover immediately because of the continuation of war in the immediate region. The Dayton Peace Accord ended the war in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus commenced the remaking of Dubrovnik's tourism image. Focuses on Dubrovnik by the mid-1990s began to show transitions, as newspaper content clearly divided then (the period of war) and now (post-war). In the final section, wars image has faded, but locals are concerned that overdevelopment, similar to war, will erode semblances of Dubrovnik's heritage.