Prague benefits the most from tourism. The number of Chinese and Germans has decreased
According to a press release from the statistical office, the volume of tourism expenditures in the Czech Republic was 292 billion crowns and the gross value added of the sector exceeded 128 billion crowns.
“In 2017, Prague’s share was 31% in employment and 36% in gross value added in the sector. In Prague, as in the Karlovy Vary region, every thirteenth worker worked in tourism, “said Zdeněk Lejsek from the CZSO’s Tourism Statistics Department. These regions are also the only two where the number of foreign tourists predominates over domestic ones.
And it is no surprise that most of them still go to the capital, where compared to the previous year, seventy thousand accommodated foreigners came this year. However, according to the Prague City Tourism Agency, the total number of guests slowed down slightly again. “We record double-digit percentage increases for visitors from Ukraine (+ 23%), Japan (+ 19%) or France (+ 10%),” said spokeswoman Barbora Hrubá, adding that compared to last year’s tourists, the number of locals increased – those staying in Prague almost a million.
Summer still dominates Germany
“The largest number of foreign guests went to Prague from Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy and China. The largest increases in terms of the total number of guests were recorded for visitors from Ukraine, the United States, France, Poland, Slovakia and Japan. We then register the largest apartments with guests from South Korea, Germany, Turkey and Austria, ”explains the statistical data of Prague City Tourism.
However, as far as the summer season is concerned, the tables are dominated by tourists from Germany. From July to September, almost a quarter of a million visited Prague. Although the Germans as well as the Chinese lived in the capital by more than four percent less during this period. A total of 2,298 million people spent the night here in the summer. The average time remains the same for a long time and is 2.3 nights. On average, visitors from Israel, Russia – but also Malta, Cyprus and Croatia – spent at least three nights in Prague.
There are fewer guests from China everywhere
Although the Poles replaced the Slovaks in the second place in the Czech Republic, the Slovaks are slightly leading in the case of the capital since the beginning of the year and in the third quarter. A year ago, guests from China were the third most numerous nationality among tourists in the Czech Republic, this year they decreased by 2.2 percent to 210,000.
As has already been said, the decline of the Chinese was also recorded by the Prague City Hall. Politicians expect a further decline due to the recent termination of the partnership agreement with Beijing. However, the communist regime threatens the city council, headed by Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), with a somewhat tougher retaliation. Despite the fact that fewer tourists from China could visit Prague and the whole Czech Republic at the end of the year, analysts expect a record year. In addition, the Czech Statistical Office does not include short-term Airbnb leases in the currently published figures.