## 1 Introduction
### Cruise Trends in the Central and South Part of the Adriatic East Coast  
The Mediterranean region is divided into four sub regions (Figure 2), among which, the Adriatic is the second most visited region after the western Mediterranean region [14]. The Adriatic Sea is located between the West Mediterranean and East Mediterranean zone, in proximity to the central and north European market with high cruising demand and developed infrastructure. Due to the geographical location, infrastructural investment and the further expansion of established destinations, the Adriatic region has promising perspectives in future [1]. Rich cultural heritage, historical value, diversity, natural beauty and prominent traditional touristic locations have established well-known cruising destinations such as Venice (1.56 million passengers) and Dubrovnik (0.732 million passengers) which have been market leaders for a long time [1]. The popularity of Venice and Dubrovnik makes cruise shipping in the Adriatic heavily dependent on these two prominent destinations, in contrast to [PERSON] and [PERSON]'s (2013) statement that destinations do not sell the cruise industry but itineraries [15]. As a result, these two biggest cruise ports in the Adriatic struggle with city congestion. Figure 1: Global cruise fleet and deployment of cruise fleet. Adopted from Cruise Industry News 2020–2021. The central and south part of the Adriatic east coast extends from the port of Zadar in North Dalmatia to the Otranto strait at the south of the Albanian coast (Figure 3). Croatian and Montenegrin destinations are the most important cruising destinations in this area, while Albanian cruising destinations have not been recognized by the market yet. The area is recognized worldwide for its natural beauty, cultural heritage and authentic, well-preserved ambient. Many marine protected areas have been established here, such as the Kornati National Park, MJjet National Park, Telascica Nature Park, the Lastovo Islands Nature Park in Croatia, as well as the Tivat Saline Special Nature Reserve in Montenegro. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized the rich history of this area. The UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in the central and south part of the east Adriatic coast are: the Cathedral of St James in Sibenik, the Historic City of Trogir, the Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diodetian, the Stari Grad Plain on the island of Hvar and the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia, as well as Natural and Cultural-Historical Region of Kotor in Montenegro and Venetian Works  
Figure 3: The central and south part of the east Adriatic coast. Adopted from Google maps. Figure 2: Mediterranean cruise market sub regions [11]. of Defence between the 16 th and 17 th Centuries: Stato da Terra--Western Stato da Mar in Croatia and Montenegro [11]. The number of cruise ships' ports in the Adriatic region is constantly rising; currently, around 30 cruise ports are in use by cruise lines [13]. The Adriatic Sea is the fastest growing region in the Mediterranean, with 18.70% growth in cruise calls (from 2492 cruise calls to 3019 cruise calls) and 20.90% growth in total passenger movements (from 3084 cruise passenger movements to 3748) in the period from 2015 to 2019 [10]. Figure 4 shows total cruise call trends from 2015 to 2019 in five leading ports in the central and south part of the Adriatic east coast. The leading ports are Dubrovnik, Korcula, Kotor, Split, Zadar and Sibenik. The horizontal axis indicates each year of the research, while the vertical axis shows number of cruise calls. Each port is marked with its colored bar, and on the top of each bar is a figure indicating the number of cruise calls of the designated port. All destinations in the central and south part of the Adriatic east coast measured growth in cruise calls, with slight oscillation in 2018.