Tourists in Prague on Wenceslas Square – illustrative photo.
Prague – Last year, the Czech Republic's income from tourism reached approximately 118 billion crowns, year-on-year they were about 51 billion crowns higher. However, they did not exceed the level from the pre-covid year 2019, when they amounted to approximately 167 billion crowns. This follows from the press release of the CzechTourism agency, which is available to ČTK. According to her, spending on tourism last year was 116 billion crowns, compared to 2021 it increased by 46 billion crowns. In 2019, expenses amounted to 135 billion crowns, the agency reported today.
Advertisement'; }
According to CzechTourism, tourism income includes money spent by foreign tourists in the Czech Republic on accommodation, food or transport. On the other hand, the costs include spending by Czechs on vacations outside the domestic borders, the report states.
Ukrainians spent the most in the Czech Republic last year, approximately 42 billion crowns. The Germans took second place with approximately 18 billion crowns, and the Poles came third, contributing about 12 billion crowns to the Czech Republic's income from tourism. “Slovakia made it to the imaginary top five with 12.3 billion crowns and the United States with roughly three billion crowns,” said Petr Janeček, head of the Tourism Institute of the CzechTourism agency. He added that while the Russian invasion was probably reflected in the amount spent by Ukrainians in the country, tourists from the other mentioned countries are among those who go to the Czech Republic most often.
“Although significantly more last year than before Domestic tourists traveled to the Czech Republic and guests from neighboring countries were almost the same as before the covid 19 pandemic, there were still and are missing more reputable tourists from distant countries, especially from Asia. Direct long-haul flights, which will be restored or re-introduced together with Prague Airport, will help change the situation we are working hard. The launch of direct flights to Taiwan announced on Wednesday is great news,” said Jan Herget, director of the CzechTourism agency. According to him, the first direct flight from Prague to Seoul, South Korea will start flying in ten days.
Last year, the average spending per person and day by foreign tourists was about 1,900 crowns, which decreased by about 300 crowns year-on-year. The year before last, non-residents in the country spent an average of 1,560 crowns per person per day, and in 2020 it will be approximately 1,820 crowns, according to the report.
