Sutivan as a mirror of Croatian tourism: what we could have preserved if we had managed the area in time

Sutivan is one of those examples that best explains what we had and what we have lost in many destinations.

We often say we miss the old tourist slogan: The Mediterranean as it once was. But the problem is not the slogan. The problem is that we have stopped living what we once communicated.

"The Mediterranean as it once was“ was not just a slogan. It was a value. Identity. Space. People. Stone. Shutters. Streets. Rhythm of life.

Sutivan on Brač is today one of the best examples of the Mediterranean as it once was. Not as a marketing phrase written by a creative agency, but as a real and living space.

Stone houses, paved streets, authentic architecture, renovated and new houses that respect the same principle. On the sea side there is no visual chaos, no devastation of space, no feeling that everyone was building their own private interpretation of the Mediterranean. You can see the harmony. No flat roofs.

The special value of Sutivan can also be seen on the waterfront. Car traffic along the seafront is closed, and only locals have access for delivery, with cards. And just that one decision immediately changes the experience of the place. And it does so radically, for the better, of course.

I'm sure there was a lot of resistance from locals at the beginning, that's just the way it is, especially in Croatia, but today, as the locals themselves tell me, it doesn't occur to them to go back to the old ways. 

A waterfront without cars. What a wonder. Safety, ambiance, no stress or turning around, the sound of the sea and the rustle.

Suddenly, the sea once again belongs to people, not traffic. The first row to the sea is not parking, but public space, walking, talking, children, terrace and everyday life.

And then one wonders: what would have happened if we had defined clear rules of the game in all our destinations in time?

If we told spatial plans what the facades, colors, heights, roofs, shutters, relationship to the street and the sea should be. Not so that everything is uniform, but so that the destination does not lose its face and identity. Or that it remains precisely that Mediterranean.

Because space, along with people, is the greatest value.

Today we all talk about premium tourism, added value and higher consumption. But premium does not start on a billboard, in a campaign or a new slogan. Premium starts in space, scale, authenticity and the feeling that a destination has character.

Sutivan is not attractive because it pretends to be the Mediterranean. It is attractive because it has preserved it.

And that is the greatest luxury today.