Is the Pelješac bridge construction going to affect tourism sustainability of the Peninsula?

Abstract

The whole area of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, situated in the southeastern part of Croatia, is at the moment, in terms of road accessibility, still not satisfactorily connected with the rest of Croatia. The lack of its accessibility is mostly caused by the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina's border line cuts in two the Dubrovnik-Neretva County's (land) territory. As a result, on the way from southwest to southeast, or from Split to Dubrovnik, one needs to cross the state border with Bosnia and Herzegovina twice. The construction of the Pelješac Bridge (together with a set of interconnecting roads) should improve the present situation significantly, mainly due to the expected redirection of most of the traffic to the new route across the Pelješac peninsula. However, it is fair to assume that this will additionally 'open' the entire Pelješac peninsula to the increased tourism related traffic, especially to the demand of one day visitors and/or weekend guests originating mostly from the nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the redirection of traffic is expected to create additional pressure on the peninsula's environment and its communal infrastructure, it seems that the Pelješac Bridge construction should not, only by itself, significantly jeopardize neither the sustainability, nor the (desirable) long-term market positioning of the peninsula on the tourism destination market.