Spring is in the air and the country’s tourist industry is preparing for the annual influx of foreign visitors. What are the main tourist attractions this year, is Prague still a magnet for foreign tourists and can the country hope to return to pre-Covid figures? I spoke to Jan Herget, the head of CzechTourism about what Czechia has to offer in 2023.
“Czechia is full of cultural heritage sites, beautiful landscape, national parks and vibrant dynamic new cities, but also old picturesque small cities like Český Krumlov. Naturally, the main attraction is our capital Prague which attracts tourists from all over the world – the US, Israel, India, France…Prague is definitely our highlight, but we naturally try to attract tourists to all destinations in Czechia, to get them to visit the regions.”
How many tourists come to Czechia annually and have we returned to pre-Covid figures?
“In the pre-Covid days we used to have more than 10 million foreign visitors a year. Last year there were 7.4 million. So there has been a decline in foreign tourists, but domestic tourism – Czechs travelling around Czechia – reached a historical record and we had more tourists from neighbouring Slovakia as well.”
What do foreign tourists generally come to see and what would you like to draw attention to?
“As I already mentioned the main attraction is Prague, Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) Český Krumlov, Kutná Hora and other historical cities and spa towns. Foreign tourists appreciate our UNESCO heritage and I would say that Czechia has the highest density of UNESCO heritage sites per square kilometer. But we are trying to promote the whole country – for example Ostrava with its technical heritage, Plzen –the capital of beer, the two Czech candidates for the title European Capital of Culture, Broumov and České Budejovice,one in north and one in south Bohemia, and of course the country’s famous spa resorts Karlovy Vary, Teplice but also Moravian spas.”
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Author: Daniela Lazarová