In the Czech Republic, the summer holidays for schoolchildren have a fixed date. July and August – both months are completely school-free and are therefore considered the main travel season. Karel Výrut, board member of the Association of Travel Agencies and head of the travel agency DIR Bohemia, sums up this year:
“The season here was good overall. This is especially true for the trips abroad that Czech residents took. In this regard, all colleagues from travel agencies are praising this summer. Things were a little less good at home, and in some areas significantly worse.”
Český Krumlov|Photo: Barbora Němcová, Radio Prague International
Výrut has a reason for this: the price increases of the last few years have had an impact. These mainly affect hotels, restaurants and, not least, entrance fees to castles and palaces, says the expert.
This is something that the Czechs themselves react to when they plan trips or a vacation in their own country. According to Výrut, the most popular destinations are in nature, especially the Giant Mountains or the Bohemian Forest. Tourists from other countries, on the other hand, are more likely to be found in the cities:
“Over the whole of last year, the Czech Republic had around ten million foreign visitors. That is not an amazing number. For example, 20 million tourists come to Venice alone every year. It is of course also bad that it is concentrated in one place. However, people’s mentality and their expectations are difficult to change. Foreign visitors go to Prague and at most to Český Krumlov. But we also have beautiful places where there is an incredibly low number of visitors. We locals of course know the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, or Vysočina, or the Pardubice region, which are magnificent. In the Vysočina region, only 800,000 foreign tourists stayed overnight last year. The situation was no better in the Pardubice region. In my opinion, these are pathetic figures.”
Tourists in Prag|Photo: Barbora Navrátilová, Radio Prague International
And the Czech Republic has a lot more to offer visitors from abroad, Výrut emphasises. They just often don’t know it because there is a lack of advertising and information.
The state agency is responsible for the external representation of the country for tourism purposes. Czech Tourism When it was founded in 1993, it was still under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, but today it falls under the Department of Regional Development. Karel Výrut says:
Karel Výrut|Photo: Association of Travel Agencies
“CzechTourism has several representatives abroad. Our association thinks there are too few, but there is simply no money for such marketing. They are in major European countries, as well as in China, and there is one employee who is responsible for the whole of South America. That is not a lot. And only one person looks after South Korea, even though many people travel to the Czech Republic from that country. That is all. Campaigns are organized, which are then run on social networks and television. But this is very limited. The budget really does not allow CzechTourism to do more advertising.”
The main problem, as is often the case, is finance. But is the Czech Republic prepared for significantly more tourists? Not necessarily, Výrut admits. For example, the infrastructure is inadequate…
“There are relatively few hotels and accommodation facilities. In the period following the corona pandemic, the price level has also increased disproportionately. This is due to the fact that there is a shortage of staff and energy has become more expensive. But there is also a lack of support and advertising. Another major problem is the connection to the road network and, above all, to rail transport. This is virtually left out. Yet more than half of the German tourists in Prague – and that’s several tens of thousands – travel by train.”
Photo: Juan Pablo Bertazza, Radio Prague International
Overtourism in Prague and Český Krumlov
Prague is also the keyword when it comes to mass tourism in the Czech Republic. The problems of overtourism are also being referred to more and more often here. However, this cannot be taken too seriously, says Karel Výrut. Rather, the media simply like to take up such topics in the slow season of the summer months. However, a few places are still affected, continues the travel agency boss:
Summit of Snezka | Photo: Kateřina Kohoutová, Czech Radio
“Overtourism in this country affects Prague’s first district and Český Krumlov, and perhaps also Sněžka. Other places are not affected. People sometimes have the feeling that tourists are in their way elsewhere too. But that is not the real overtourism – like in Venice, for example. 50,000 people live there and 20 million tourists visit the city every year. Prague has 1.3 million inhabitants and around eight million visitors every year, including Czechs. So this number is not quite as bad. But everything is concentrated in the center of Prague 1.”
In general, travel activities are increasing sharply, Výrut continues, and this is happening worldwide. After all, the number of people alone is constantly increasing. But their purchasing power, opportunities and level of information are also constantly improving. In Prague, there are also structures that promote mass tourism. Výrut refers to booking services such as Airbnb:
“There is of course a connection here with short stays in private apartments. There is no control over this. Nobody knows how many people use it and stay in the apartments. It is partly a shadow economy. For certain periods of time, it is estimated that out of ten people who are currently living in the old town, seven are tourists. That is certainly not good.”
The example of Germany shows that there can be state regulations for more sustainability in so-called inbound or entry tourism, Výrut continues. He is not only concerned with bans. But limiting the number of visitors, ensuring appropriate waste disposal or regulating the use of electric scooters could certainly be a matter for the administration, says the industry representative. In the Czech Republic, however, there is no uniform concept for this:
“For years, inbound tourism has accounted for around three percent of the gross domestic product and employs 250,000 people. That’s not a small amount; it’s more than agriculture, for example. But the industry runs on its own, so to speak. State investment is low and there is no concept. In principle, everyone regulates everything for themselves – some things are taken care of by the districts, some by the state, and others by the cities.”
Photo: Michaela Danelová, iROZHLAS.cz
This is bad, says Výrut. However, the CzechTourism agency has recently improved the situation considerably with a new manager, he continues, and also refers to the responsible ministry:
“The tourism department at the Ministry of Regional Development is doing its best. But if I remember correctly, it only consists of ten or twelve people. The ministry is responsible for regional development, EU funding, housing, building law, the funeral industry, tourism and digitalization. That is an absurdly broad portfolio. Our neighboring countries Austria, Poland and Slovakia, on the other hand, have a ministry for sport and tourism. In Poland, they have even managed to double the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists within ten years.”
So far, the tourism sector in the Czech Republic has received 500 million crowns (20 million euros) annually from the state budget, Výrut informs, and expresses fears that in times of consolidation, his industry in particular could be affected by cuts in the coming year.
Old Town Square in Prague|Photo: Hana Slavická, Radio Prague International
Flexible holiday dates in the Czech Republic?
Finances also play the most important role for people in the Czech Republic when it comes to deciding where to go on holiday. After the travel restrictions of the Corona years, the foreign business of local travel agencies has returned to normal. Karel Výrut describes what is most in demand:
“There is a great deal of interest in all-inclusive offers. On the one hand, this is of course convenient – you have everything at your disposal in the hotel and don’t have to think about any purchases. On the other hand, I think that this limits the opportunity to get to know the place you are staying, because you also spend the evenings in the resort.”
Mumlava|Photo: Lenka Žižková, Radio Prague International
Such trips are not only booked during the holidays, the expert adds, but often also in the off-season, because prices are lower then. This way, people in this country can extend the summer a little longer.
The Association of Travel Agents also fundamentally supports this trend…
“Our association has been advocating for flexible holiday dates in the Czech Republic for years, like in Austria or Germany. This would extend the holiday season over a longer period. And then there would no longer be such a rush on certain dates. We think that would be good. However, the Ministry of Education disagrees.”
And there are no signals from the department that the scheduling for the summer holidays in the Czech Republic will change in the near future.
