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 Tourism:
time to come back
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Tourism has always been one of the main Czech industries
and recent government activities have been trying
to bring more people outside of Prague, the main
Czech tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the Czech
tourist industry has suffered a severe blow in August
2002 when enormous floods hit large parts of the
country, including Prague, and ce country, includingPrague,
and caused a lot of damage.
" After the floods, Prague has been struggling,
with the return of 'so-called' incredible diseases,
that had ceased to exist for a long time. Fortunately
today people are starting to realize that the consequences
were not as bad as they thought; parts of the city
have been flooded, this is a fact, but that was
the case in other cities as well, like Dresden etc.
It still had an important effect on our sector.
We had many cancellations, especially in the leisure
field. " says Mr.
Woltering, General Manager of the Mercure Hotel,
Prague.
. 
The Accor Group has opened several hotels in Prague
and is one of the strongest hotel chains operating
in the capital.
Despite the flood damages that have been estimated
at over 100 billion Czech crowns (3.3 billion Euro),
most of them have been dealt with very quickly,
often with international assistance. "We have
received aid from abroad, including France, and
are very grateful for this," acknowledges Mr.
Cyril Svoboda, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
adding that international aid is the proof that
the Czech Republic belongs to the family of nations
that know what solidarity means. "The water
has washed out borders between the countries. Even
countries, which also suffered, such as Germany
and Austria, managed to give us some aid. Of course,
vice versa, we helped Austria and Germany"
Mr. Svoboda illustrates the cooperation among Central
European countries. In all tourist areas, most of
the damages have been repaired within a few months
and the whole country is once again ready to welcome
its visitors. His words are confirmed by Mr.
Jaroslav Mlynár Chairman of the Board of
Generali Pojištovna , one of the leading
insurance companies in the Czech Republic "The
total damage in the Czech Republic is between 70
and 100 billion of Czech Crowns. From this total
amount 35 billion will be covered by insurance companies,
that is between 30% to 50%, which is significantly
higher than in Germany or Austria."
Tourism has always been one of the main Czech industries
and recent government activities have been trying
to bring more people outside of Prague, the main
Czech tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the Czech
tourist industry has suffered a severe blow in August
2002 when enormous floods hit large parts of the
country, including Prague, and the country, including
Prague, and caused a lot of damage. |
Last year's floods looked
more dangerous on the TV sets than in reality. "
everything is back to normal," says Mrs.
Koutska, CEO of Top Hotel Praha.
While 2001 and 2002 were not good years because
of September 11 and the floods, things are expected
to pick up again in 2003 and even more after the
Czech Republic becomes the member of the EU. ' I
am convinced that the fact that the Czech Republic
joins the EU will have a positive impact on the
economy, because we are here in a fast developing
country. The number of businessmen coming to the
Czech republic will keep increasing. It will surely
have a positive effect", adds Mr.
Woltering.
The hopes of Mrs. Koutska are also shared outside
of Prague, including Ostrava, the third largest
Czech city in the center of a region combining heavy
industry and beautiful mountains. "The Ostrava
region is starting to attract major investments,"
says Mr.
Dick R. Bliek, CEO of Hotel Imperial Ostrava,
the best hotel in the region, established in 1904
and currently owned by the French company Orco Hotel
Development (whose sister company also operates
as a major developer in Prague). The guests at the
Hotel Imperial are primarily business people and
group guests for meetings and events, making conference
tourism one of the key development areas, according
to Mr. Bliek. "Our facilities are competitive
with Prague, our service is better and our prices
are lower. A meeting in Ostrava inclusive air fare
will be cheaper than a meeting in Prague,"
he explains.
The first impression many tourists get of the Czech
Republic is at the Prague Ruzyne airport. The modern
facility, built by the French construction conglomerate
Bouygues, is managed by Czech Airports Authority
(CAA). Despite the floods, the Prague airport saw
over 6.3 million passengers in 2002, almost reaching
its 6.4 million capacity. "Therefore, our priority
is to build a new terminal by 2005 as we expect
fast growth of passengers after our entry into the
EU and because we will need new facilities to handle
traffic within the Schengen Agreement area,"
explains Mr.
Martin Kacur, CEO of CAA.
While more flights and passengers mean growing fee
revenues for CAA, the company is also looking for
ways of increasing non-aeronautical revenues from
shop rentals, car-park fees, advertising or commercial
development of the airport area.
CAA is also responsible for other airports in the
country, such as, Ostrava and Karlovy Vary. Since
all three regional airports lack sufficient traffic
to make them profitable, CAA is looking for new
ways to manage them. "In July 2002, we have
implemented a pilot project similar to the French
concession model of operation of regional airports
in Brno," says Mr. Kacur, pointing out to the
ongoing discussion on the future of regional airports.
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