This means that 2,715,571 tourists from abroad came to the Czech Republic in the 1st half of the year. The average stay was about four days and a significant decrease has been registered in the number of tourists from Great Britain and Russia. “There has also been a change in the order of the first five countries,” said Filip Remenec of Czech Tourism. Only Germany has held its long-standing first position (629,000 tourists), despite a fall of 8.5%. Italy is second (180,000 tourists) overtaking Britain. In comparison with other European countries which have registered a much bigger decrease, the Czech Republic is still popular among Italian tourists. 174,000 tourists from Great Britain came to the Czech Republic in the first half-year which represents a decrease of as much as 27%. On the other hand, data from the British Office for National Statistics shows a 35% decrease in British tourists going abroad (globally). “Even the most popular destinations for British holiday-makers are struggling with a falling number of tourists: Portugal (down by 44%), Spain (-27%) and France (-13%),” stated Jan Mlčák of the British Department of Czech Tourism Agency. “From this point of view, the Czech Republic appears to be one of the most stable tourist destinations,” adds Mlčák. Poland, strong last year and still registering a slight increase in the first quarter of 2009, is now down by 7.3% for the full first half of 2009 (173,000 tourists).
Even Russians are fewer
Russia has moved down to fourth place with a fall of almost 19% in the number of Russians (161,000 tourists) arriving in the Czech Republic. A significant decline has been registered in group trips, which relates to the number of visas granted which has fallen by more than 30%, compared to last year. “The development of Russian tourism abroad has been remarkably affected by a fall of nearly 25 to 30% in the Rubl : Euro exchange rate. Besides this, many big industrial enterprises have reduced their social programme budgets, through which they financed or contributed to their employees’ holidays abroad,” explained Helena Svobodová of the Russian branch of Czech Tourism.
Prague is still in the lead
In terms of regions, Prague remains the most visited destination – with 1.66 million foreign tourists, the fall of 10.8% is lower than the nation-wide average. Second place is taken by the Karlovarský Region, visited by 203,000 tourists, which is 11.2% less. It is a favourite destination for Russians and it is apparent that their preference has not fallen much in comparison to other regions. A very popular destination, Jihomoravský (South Moravian) Region, which previously registered a relatively high increase, now struggles with the steepest decline – by 23.1% (162,000 tourists). The number of overnight stays was 8 063 181 which means a fall of 11%.
Hope for a better year - 2010
The results presented by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the first 4 months of 2009 are not very encouraging. From the global point of view Europe has registered a fall of 10%. “The economic recession is showing, resulting in growing unemployment and thus also a fall in the numbers of tourists arriving from European countries and from North America. According to a forecast by the European Commission for tourism, we can expect a slight improvement in the situation towards the end of 2010,” said Filip Remenec.