Czech Republic invites tourists to Prague and regions
However distant summer may seem in the bleak days of February, many people have already started planning their summer holidays. And as I found out at last week's huge travel fair in Prague, Czech travel agents, hotels and tour guides are busy preparing for all those foreign tourists that may want to spend their vacation in the Czech Republic.
"The Czech Tourist Authority has prepared many new activities which should attract more visitors to the Czech Republic in 2003. The Czech Republic has signed an agreement with the other Visegrad countries - Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - on joint presentations in remote or overseas markets, such as Asia, South America or the Asia Pacific."
For many foreign tourists, the Czech Republic primarily means Prague. However, as Ms Belikova says, there is more to the Czech Republic than just its capital.
"We decided to try and overcome the myth that the Czech Republic is only Prague, and we try to promote other fields of tourism in the country. These include castles throughout the Czech Republic, spas and what we call 'active holidays', which includes summer and winter sports. I think we are quite successful in our effort because people who have already visited Prague now want to see something new. I am also happy that people who want to visit this country do not ask only about Prague but they also enquire about Cesky Krumlov or Karlovy Vary, they ask about specific destinations, specific monuments, they want to go outside Prague. Potential visitors are very much interested in two or three-day trips within the Czech Republic. We welcome that trend very much and we hope that foreign tourists will not automatically think of the Czech Republic only in terms of its capital city."
In the year 2000 Prague hosted a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and last November it played to host to an historic NATO summit. Now the city has proven itself capable of hosting such major events, Barbora Belikova believes it will become an attractive venue for all kinds of congresses.
"Apart from the fields I have mentioned before - that is castles, spas, active holidays and Prague - there is another field we want to promote and that is congress and incentive tourism. After the NATO summit in Prague last November, we realised that Prague was an ideal destination for congress and incentive tourism and now we are trying to promote the city as an ideal destination for congresses not only in Europe but also in America. We are addressing various companies and organisations and so far the response has been very positive. Upscale hotels in and around Prague are very much interested in cooperation. So we hope we will be able to present Prague as an attractive destination for congress and incentive tourism."
The Czech Tourist Authority believes there is still room for improvement in incoming tourism. A survey of what foreign tourists don't like about coming to the country was carried out last year, and 55 negatives were identified.
"Last year we defined a number of obstacles that are slowing down the development of incoming tourism in the Czech Republic. The main obstacles which need to be tackled first of all are complicated visa procedures in some countries, for example in Canada. It is a pity to deter Canadian tourists who come to Central Europe by complicated visa procedures. So we are now trying to simplify the visa procedures not only in Canada but also in certain Asian countries, namely China. What also worries us are Prague taxi-drivers, but this problem probably cannot be solved within a week. We are now trying to count how much money the Czech Republic is losing owing to these problems. We are also negotiating with Prague's city hall about public transport passes. We are discussing the possibility of big hotels selling those passes in order to make life easier for tourists in Prague."
Last year the Czech Republic was hit by devastating floods, and many people were put off visiting the country, something which cost the tourism industry billions.
"Unfortunately, last autumn fewer visitors came to the Czech Republic than in the same period of 2001. The floods are not the only reason; it was also a reflection of a global decreasing trend in tourism. In the period between January and November 2002, the number of foreign tourists coming to the Czech Republic dropped by 15.5 percent compared to the same time in 2001. In the first eleven months of 2002, 4,304,320 visitors came to the Czech Republic and the average length of their stay was 4.2 days - that is a whole day longer than in 2001. The greatest decrease was in tourists from Israel, Denmark and Belgium. On the other hand more tourists came from Greece or Japan. The decreasing trend was apparent in the first seven months of 2002, that is before the floods."
Frantisek Mikes is the mayor of Cesky Krumlov, a historic town in South Bohemia which suffered a great deal in last year's floods.
"Cesky Krumlov was seriously affected by the floods in three waves. The town was damaged, bridges were destroyed, streets, houses, sports grounds and so on. Today when tourists come to Cesky Krumlov - and I cordially invite everybody - they ask where the floods took place. In the historic centre of the town they will not see much evidence of the floods. The owners of the houses made a great effort to repair the damage. But on the outskirts of the town tourists can still see what water did to the sports grounds, where the damage reached tens of millions of crowns."
Apart from it historic beauties, Cesky Krumlov now has another attraction - water level marks.
"Some people drew water level marks on the walls immediately. When you come to the Egon Schiele Culture Centre, you might not believe that water reached almost two metres there and paintings were floating on the surface. Today if the mark was not there, nobody would know where the water was. I myself suggested to one restaurant owner that he draw a mark on the wall. He thought it was a very good idea and he painted a blue wave on the wall. I am joking about it now but I must say that last August we were miserable and all of us who took part in the clean-up wish it would never happen again. But now we are ready to welcome tourists. We can offer them the standard they were used to and sometimes even better because we did not only renovate but also modernise."
Mr Mikes added that after last year's experience Cesky Krumlov is now prepared for all eventualities. Barbora Belikova from the Czech Tourist Authority says all is back to normal in the Czech Republic and all visitors are welcome.
"I think people do not have to be afraid. We announced before Christmas that most hotels and tourist sights had been renovated and at Christmas tourism reached the same level as in the previous years. Hotels in Prague are now fully booked and I am sure Prague will not experience any decrease in tourism this year. I also hope the figures will stay the same in other regions of the Czech Republic. We believe that everybody learnt their lesson from the floods and what happened last year will not happen again. If high water levels were to come again everybody knows what to do and there is no danger of similar damage being done."
Finally, I asked Barbora Belikova where foreign tourists planning to visit the Czech Republic can look for more information about the country and the activities of the Czech Tourist Authority.
"Now we are improving our website, www.visitczechia.cz or www.visitczechia.com which as of April will have other five language versions. Later we are planning another seven languages, including Chinese and Arabic. On the website there is specific information about the Czech Republic and its individual regions. Every new page opens with a map of the Czech Republic showing the position of the region and its distance from Prague. Thanks to that every tourist can see that the distances are small and that it only takes a matter of hours to get to any region. The Czech Republic is beautiful and its regions are worth seeing as well."
