“Many people don’t know we have mountains”: head of CzechTourism on getting visitors out of Prague

Prague has long been one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, ranking in the top 10 of capital cities by visitor numbers and beating other well-known cities such as Vienna, Berlin and Venice, despite its relatively small size. Equally, the Czech capital has long suffered from tourist blight and overtourism, and is now trying to shake off its reputation as a cheap place to get drunk and party. I spoke to Jan Herget, head of CzechTourism, about swapping stag parties for symposiums, how Michelin stars could lure foreign tourists out of the capital, and why inflation might perversely be a good thing for Prague – and much else besides.

Tourist numbers have gone up since last year but still, less people are coming to Czechia than in 2019. Is CzechTourism aiming to get those numbers back to where they used to be?

"Sure, but if we look at the numbers from the second quarter, it's pretty good, because it's actually only 6000 tourists less. But if we look at the numbers in more detail, then we see that there is structural change - we see more Czech people, and many more people from surrounding countries like Poland and Germany. We are missing tourists from Russia, naturally, due to the war, but also from China and a little bit from Korea and America. But it's going in a good direction, because thanks to the long-haul direct flights from Seoul and now from Taipei, it's increasing and getting better and better."

Tourists in Prague|Photo: Klára Stejskalová, Radio Prague International

Are there particular kinds of tourists that you want to attract more of? Tourists from specific countries or regions, for example?

"Definitely. We are trying to get as much congress tourism as possible - incentives for conferences and international congresses, because that is really a good part of tourism that we want to target. We are also happy with the tourists from certain countries because they travel to the regions outside Prague. That is a long-term challenge for Czechia - to have tourists not only in Prague and in the top destinations, but really all around the country. We are trying hard to get there, and for that, it is good that we have tourists from Germany and Poland.

“This summer we did a small campaign also in Scandinavia and Benelux to target car drivers. It is a little bit surprising, but thanks to the switch to electric cars, holidays by car are now actually a sustainable kind of holiday. If you look at the numbers of electric cars in Scandinavia and Holland, there is a huge increase and for them to drive it is really sustainable. And we are reachable for them - it's five or six hours if they drive fast, but usually from Denmark, it's around eight hours, which is still manageable. It's a good opportunity for Czechia, so we try to target them."

What are the biggest things holding Czechia back from attracting more tourists, or more of the kinds of tourists you want?

"Definitely a lack of direct flights, mostly from the long-haul markets, because if you compare 2019 and this year, we are still missing many. Zero direct flights from Canada, only one from the US - there used to be three. Now, luckily, we have opened a direct flight from Taiwan, but in January, there were still no direct flights from Asia.

“So we are working on that together with the city of Prague and Prague airport, and I am really happy that we managed these direct flights and we are working hard to get more. There is very good connectivity with the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates - all these countries are very well-connected, and we see it in the numbers. Summer in the Middle East is very hot, so they appreciate our greenery, our rain also, [laughs], which is good for us. And we try to get the high-end clientele, because the average spending is much lower than it used to be, which is a little bit tough, mostly for the 5* hotels and the luxury restaurants - they still lack the tourists."

Prague Airport|Photo: Ondřej Tomšů, Radio Prague International

You said that you would like to get more people out of Prague and into the regions - how do you plan to do that? Is it something you only focus on with neighbouring countries or do you think you could also attract people from further afield?

"We try hard with all countries, naturally, but we are realistic. We know that if you travel by car from Poland, you have to cross the regions, so it's pretty easy. If you fly to Prague for a city break for a long weekend, then naturally it is not easy to get people outside Prague.

“But we have very good train connectivity, so you can get to Olomouc, for example, in two hours by train, and there is very good gastronomy. On the long-haul market, we work with tour operators and try to improve their itineraries, to introduce new cities and new locations.

“And I really hope that the Michelin star rating system that we will implement next year will help us, because there are some kinds of tourists, mostly high-end, that really orient themselves around this, gastronomy is very important for them. And if we manage to get either some Michelin stars or Michelin bibs in restaurants outside Prague, then it will really help the regions a lot."

The city of Prague wants to get rid of this image of the capital as a destination for stag and hen parties - is that also one of CzechTourism's aims?

"Absolutely, we work in line together with Prague. Even the campaigns that we do, we do together. So there is the campaign Stay in Prague, which we split the cost of with the city. We helped them and they helped us.

“I think a very important thing is that we have many international events in Prague, which attract this kind of cultural clientele - not only the Prague Spring, but many others. It's good for two reasons - first of all, you get visibility, and second, people have a reason to come back. That is always important - that you have tourists coming back.

“If I compare it with Paris - you will never go three times to the Eiffel Tower. If you return to Paris, it will definitely not be because of the Eiffel Tower. We have the beautiful Charles Bridge, we have Prague Castle, and you will see it once, maybe two times, but you won't keep going there every September. So you have to have reasons to return - and that is congresses, concerts, and big events. And we have to work on that together with the city."

Tourists on Prague’s Charles Bridge |Photo: Ondřej Tomšů, Radio Prague International

I think it will be hard to shake that image that Prague has had for such a long time - probably lots of people who live here, including me, were hoping the stag parties wouldn't come back after Covid but it seems like they did. How long do you think it will take for that kind of image makeover to happen, for it to filter down into people's consciousness?

"First of all, I think it's much better than it used to be, and second, maybe it sounds funny, but inflation will help us, because if the beer in Prague was so cheap that it was cheaper than water, then you would never change the image of the city no matter what you did.

“When the beer was too cheap, it attracted people to have stag parties here. Now there is a change - the prices for gastronomy have increased and it is not as cheap as it used to be. So I think it will be a natural way of attracting the more high-end clients and dis-incentivising the stag parties. I don't want to say that the only reason they come is because of the cheap beer, but it won't be a reason anymore because the beer in Prague is not as cheap as it used to be."

Do you market or present Czechia differently in different countries - for example, in Germany versus in France?

"Absolutely. We still do global campaigns though - this year it is about traditions, so with 'Unexpected Czechia' we present ourselves with traditions but from a different point of view.

“Next year, we would like to present our country as a place for wellbeing - active holidays like cycling, hiking and walking but also spas and wellness. Because our national products are heritage, which we are very strong in, but also active holidays. We have beautiful mountains, rivers, and lakes, and also spas - we are one of the most spa-oriented countries in Europe. So I hope that it will help us.

“We will continue with the unexpected, because I think many people don't know that we have mountains - they have the image of beautiful Prague and they never cross the border out of Prague. So that's our aim and I hope it will help to bring people to the regions."

Klínovec|Photo: CzechTourism

Do you have any examples of specific campaigns in certain countries that were particularly successful or interesting?

"I was really happy with this car-driving campaign in Scandinavia and Benelux that was trying to reach the sustainability-sensitive people, and to bring electro-mobility here. I think that is a nice example of how to change things.

“I hope that in the future we will be presented as more of a sustainable country, because in fact we are - we have great infrastructure for hiking holidays, with the highest density of marked walking routes. Last year the Czech Trail was opened, which allows you to walk all around Czechia. It's a great opportunity to spend a great time in beautiful nature. Also, the train connectivity is great, so I think we could have the ambition to be one of the most sustainable countries in the future, which is not the case right now.

“But we are a very safe country - which is also very important - and not just from the point of view of tourists and criminality, but also in terms of nature. If we see what is happening now in southern Europe or in Slovenia, it's terrible. But if you look at Czechia, we are somewhat stable. Natural disasters can always happen, but still, being in the middle of Europe, we don't have these extreme changes, and that's very important if you travel with kids or with elderly people - they want to be safe and Czechia is a safe country."

What about this issue of the country's name - do you now use Czechia consistently or do you still use the Czech Republic sometimes?

"We try. Naturally, if you've used one name for 20 years, it's difficult. My wife, when she married me and changed her name, it took us some time to get used to it. So it will take some time here too.

“But the big opportunity will be the Olympic Games in Paris. Our aim is to start to use Visit Czechia next year at the Olympic Games. Now we are still preparing for it, so for example, one week ago, we changed the webpage from Visit Czech Republic to Visit Czechia, and we are slowly working on it.

“So we try, but it's not like a big rebranding. We don't have the money for it, and I think it's not necessary. The two names were here together for many years, and mostly it was the sports world that decided to use Czechia, because if you see Czech Republic it's very long, so it's not so practical to put it on T-shirts and so on. So I think it's reasonable and we will slowly get used to it."

Photo: Czech Foreign Ministry

Covid resulted in a lot more domestic tourism - Czechs travelling to destinations within Czechia. Has that still continued since the end of the pandemic and do you want to keep encouraging it?

"Absolutely, domestic tourism is massive and I'm happy about that. Mostly for the regions that don't target foreign tourists and have around 90% domestic tourists, it's really crucial for them.

“I was afraid, because naturally after two or three years of Covid, everybody wanted to go abroad to see the beach, so I'm really happy that the number of domestic tourists is still increasing, which is a great sign, and it's very important. I think it will not grow as it used to due to Covid, but I will be very happy if we manage get the same numbers in the next years, because as I said, domestic tourism is the key to being successful.

“Because first of all, it's much more expensive to target foreign tourists and get them here, and second, if you are local, you travel many times per year, so you come back. And that's also very important. So I hope that we will do it, and thanks to our portal Kudyznudy, we do a great job. It has already been translated into many different languages like English, German, Ukrainian even, thanks to artificial intelligence. So I think we did a great job and I hope that we will manage to keep it up."

Is the only benefit of foreign tourism that it brings money into the country, or do you see some other benefits?

"It's an interesting question. I'm a businessman, so for me, I take it as an export. But there are many other reasons and factors to consider.

“First of all, there is a big push for quality. Without exports - it doesn't matter if it's tourism or cars - if you only make something for your own people, then you don't have the same scale and quality push, so I think that's a very important thing.

“Second, thanks to tourism, you hear about new trends. It helps the local people, because if you have to learn languages and you use them, it opens doors, the sky is the limit then. I know many chefs, for example, that started their career here, then moved to London, then worked in the Emirates, then came back and now they have opened in restaurants in Czechia.

“Tourism is very international - I would say the key of tourism is to be international - and the Czech economy is very open, so I think it's really helping the whole economy. And we need long-haul flights to attract not only tourists but also investors and businessmen. If you come for a business trip, that's tourism.

“Tourism is a very important part of the economy from the point of view of money, but also from the point of view of infrastructure and relations. It brings people together, it helps society. For me, tourism is really love. It's money, it's business, but one of the most beautiful businesses in the world, because it really brings happiness to people and it brings people together."