Traditionally, Karlovy Vary hoteliers can be the most satisfied during the festival. The accommodation capacity is always full long before the start of the festival. “During the film festival, we have an occupancy rate of 95 percent on average,” Jana Homolová, marketing manager of the Iris Hotel, told E15. Similar occupancy during the E15 festival week was also confirmed by Eva Tichá, deputy general manager of the Royal Regent Hotel. Although the festival week is an economically interesting period for both hotels, there is a consensus that for them the revenue from classic medical stays in the rest of the year is key.
While most hotels are bursting at the seams during the festival week, other Karlovy Vary entrepreneurs and tradespeople do not notice increased interest in their services from festival visitors to a greater extent.
The situation of restaurateurs is especially interesting. It is true that several well-known restaurants in the center of Karlovy Vary traditionally register more visitors during the festival. This was confirmed by E15, for example, Lucie Nahodilová from the popular restaurant La Hospoda. Smaller businesses in particular look at the upcoming festival with skepticism.
“Visit during the festival is decreasing year by year,” said Liliana Orbanová, operator of the restaurant Sklípek, which specializes mainly in classic Czech cuisine. Orbanová, along with other interviewed restaurateurs, mainly blames the food stalls, which are located both near the Thermal Hotel and on the colonnade, for the low sales.
“It’s like the city is throwing us overboard by allowing so many stalls. Last year, all visitors to the festival stayed only at the stands that stood near Thermal, if we didn’t run out, and this year it will definitely be the same,” Orbanová specified. “When there is a national holiday in Germany, we have much more sales than for the entire film festival,” she added.
One of the employees of the U Švejka restaurant made a similar comment. “To tell you the truth, the festival is not as interesting for us as the non-festival season. As for the permanent pubs here on the colonnade, the whole festival takes away from us more than it gives, mainly because of the food stalls that are spread all over the colonnade. I don’t think that we would have positive numbers from the festival,” he responded to the question of whether they register more sales during the festival week. Similar to hoteliers, all interviewed restaurateurs agree that classic spa clientele outside the festival week is key for them.
The demand for spa and wellness stays, which are otherwise popular and essential for Karlovy Vary, is also relatively low during the festival period. “The local clientele is dwindling, because I have noticed over the years that the locals move outside of Karlovy Vary during the festival. They are bothered by the traffic associated with the festival,” said Václav Benedikt, chairman of the board of Alžbětiny lázní.
“For us, the period of the festival is mainly associated with the stays of subscribers of health insurance companies who are undergoing professional rehabilitation with us. There will not be significantly more visitors from outside during the festival week,” added Benedikt. The interest in wellness and other services on the part of visitors to the Karlovy Vary Film Festival is not high, even though Alžbětina’s spa is located very close to the Thermal Hotel, i.e. the center of the main festival events.
Even at The Home of Becherovka, the visitor center of the iconic brand of Karlovy Vary herbal liqueur, there is not much attendance during the festival. “This is not a significant period for us, visitors to the international film festival mostly spend their time watching films and accompanying programs within the festival,” said center manager Lada Naidrová.
Overall, as a result of the film festival, the economy of Karlovy Vary does not flourish much. Although hoteliers are seeing an increase in sales, other entrepreneurs and tradesmen have no choice but to wait until after the festival, the traditional spa clientele will visit the city again.
2023-07-06 10:19:00
#city #threw #overboard #Karlovy #Vary #businessmen #complain #E15.cz
