Prague looks to reinvent its tourism model

The Czech Republic partially opened its borders to neighbouring states on May 26, but tourism has been slow to catch up. That’s understandable as restrictions are still tight and the list of favoured countries is short. This would mean that the upcoming summer season would not be a fruitful one for tour operators.

Prague’s mayor, Zdenek Hrib, says he is hugely concerned about the fate of tourism and pledges full support for the sector and its employees. The enforced pause could offer the city a chance to recover from “over-tourism” that is “eating the city from the inside”.

“The impact will be terrible on the sector but the crisis has also given us the space to breathe,” he told the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). “It’s an opportunity to change the face of tourism in the city.”

Although the borders with Austria, Hungary, Germany, and Slovakia are now reopened to business travellers and for some other short visits, there is no indication when the country will fully open its doors to foreign tourists.

In the first quarter of 2020, foreign visitor numbers fell by over 26% and the drop over the April-June period is expected to be much bigger, BIRN says in its report. That will hit the economy in a country where tourism accounts for about 3% of GDP. The state Czech Tourism agency warns that around 5 billion euros in revenue and up to 80,000 jobs could be lost this year.

Despite that, the government has yet to agree on any special support for the sector under its economic recovery package, which totals over 37 billion euros.

In this situation, travel agencies, hotels and attractions are turning their eyes to a plan being prepared by the Ministry for Regional Development, under which the state will contribute to discount vouchers that will be offered to Czechs holidaying at home, BIRN says.

“There will be some assistance from [domestic tourism] for the hotels, but our estimates say that it will cover only about 30 to 35% of what foreigners would spend in the Czech Republic,” said Tomas Prouza, president of the Confederation of Trade and Tourism. “Foreigners covered more than 90% of the overnight stays in Prague hotels,” he added.

The virtual absence of foreign tourists will hit Prague especially, and the city generates around a third of the total revenue of Czech tourism. The capital expects to lose around 3.7 billion euros in 2020.

“Revenues from foreign visitors are lost for this year,” Frantisek Cipro, director of Prague City Tourism says.

Amid this looming crisis, city officials are also trying to use the dilemma as an opportunity to “cleanse” Prague of businesses that are deemed to affect local residents negatively.

Swamped by the flood of foreign tourists, 6.8 million of whom visited last year, the city centre has been slowly suffocating under the weight of the crowds. Housing and other accommodation facilities for locals have become scarcer and much more expensive in the economic heat generated by numerous Airbnbs and hostels.

Year after year, outlets selling trinkets, overpriced water or fast food of questionable quality disguised as “national” cuisine have spread all over the city centre, chasing out other, more traditional, shops and outlets, the BIRN report says. Noise from drinkers, garbage, violence and vandalism have polluted the city and the lives of those locals still living there.

Shared accommodation operators such as Airbnb have long been on the black list of the city authorities as contributors to the negative phenomenon of “over-tourism”. The mayor has personally led a high-profile campaign against these services, citing their effect on the housing market for locals.

Before the coronavirus crisis struck, as many as 15,000 apartments in Prague were on offer on Airbnb. According to research by Deloitte, 25% of flats in the historic Old Town quarter were being used for short-term tourist accommodation, BIRN reports.

On May 19, the state news agency CTK reported that the city had drawn up a new plan for sustainable tourism. The scheme aims to divert tourist flows away from the congested centre and reduce the stress for residents. Slow tourism, cultural institutes and heritage maintenance will receive support.