Mid-July, the peak of the season - and in the heart of Dubrovnik, 471 accommodation units sit empty for the dates from July 22 to 25. For a city that boasted for decades that there wasn't a free bed in summer, this is a picture the locals call unprecedented.

„Never more empty accommodation in the heart of the season in Dubrovnik“, says one resident. Another adds that „the whole city is talking about how terrible the season is and that no one has booked even half of July and August“. For many landlords, July and August fill up only halfway - a disaster for a business that lives all year on these two months.

The reason is no mystery - prices have simply spun out of control. A ten-day stay in a standard apartment reaches up to 1,500 euros, a restaurant meal demands a budget of up to 2,000, and a single scoop of ice cream costs 5 euros. When a holiday on the Adriatic starts to cost as much as an exotic destination, the tourist does the math - and goes elsewhere.

And that elsewhere is increasingly Spain, which this year is recording a record number of tourists and 7.8 percent higher spending, with lower prices across all categories. The market follows a logic every merchant knows: if you charge too much, the buyer goes to the competition.

For us in the Balkans this is directly relevant - Croatia is the summer destination for thousands of families from the region, including many from Macedonia. And there's a lesson that applies to us too: beautiful nature and old glory aren't enough if the price drives people away. Dubrovnik has the sea, the walls and the sun - but if the bill scares people off, the guest will look at that same sea from a cheaper shore. The question for every tourist destination is the same: how long can you live off reputation before the market says enough?