Plans to turn an eastern Bohemian town into fairy tale kingdom

The eastern Bohemian town of Moravska Trebova is situated in an attractive part of the country. Yet, unlike other towns in the region, it hasn’t been very successful in drawing tourists. Now this is about to change, local councillors are hoping. They have introduced an ambitious project: what should become the first real-life Czech fairy tale kingdom.

Arabela, Rumburak, Cinderella or Snow White. These and other fairy tale figures are set to become new tourist attractions in Moravska Trebova. You may soon be able to meet them in person in the country’s first ever fairy-tale kingdom. Miroslav Netolicky is one of the people behind the idea:

“We have elaborated, together with a specialized company, a strategy of tourism development here in the city and wider region. We found out that we are not a top destination. Thanks to the neighbourhood of other successful cities like Litomysl with its castle on the UNESCO list we decided to have our share of their success.”

To become a top tourist destination, the councillors of Moravska Trebova decided to adopt a more interactive approach and get rid of old fashioned museums and galleries. The new strategy seems to bearing fruit already:

“Most important part of the city, which has about 12 thousand inhabitants, is the Renaissance chateau, which was completely renovated last year. We decided here at the town-hall that when the renovation was done that we should connect it with a newly opened exhibition, the torture chamber. It was a big success last season. The number of tourists increased from two to fifteen thousand during one year. Next year we would like to open a new alchemist laboratory which will be very interactive. So we want to make the castle a centre of tourism here in the city and to get over thirty thousand visitors a year.”

The romantic, fairy tale looking castle has also inspired the councillors to build a pohadkova rise, or fairy tale kingdom:

“We found out that there some cultural and historical potential for the development of tourism but there is not enough entertainment. We decided to create something special that cannot be found in the Czech Republic now. That’s the project of Pohadkova Rise – or fairy tale land. The main point will be the fairy tale garden with statues of well-known characters from the fairy tales like the Snow-White and Cinderella as well as the new fairy tales like Harry Potter. We also plan a museum of Czech fairy tales and films and there will also be a zone of services, with shops and information centre.”

The councillors of Moravska Trebova have already taken the first steps towards carrying out their ambitious plan. However, it won’t be completed before 2010.