Aquapalace Prague: It was a shock, says boss Horáková
The most visited domestic aquapark Aquapalace Prague has a daily cost, including personal, of 600,000 crowns. They cannot be reduced to 14 days. It is still necessary to take care of the water as in normal operation, the employee cannot be dismissed in two weeks. Should the forced closure take longer, the operator would need information now to be able to prepare. The closing day by day was a shock. People have been calling and asking for more detailed information since the morning, said Vladana Horáková, CEO of Aquapalace Prague.
According to Horáková, the management of Aquapalace Prague expected some restrictions from Monday, as reported in the media by politicians. “The government’s announcement was a shock. Until yesterday (Thursday) we went without restrictions, without reducing capacity. We expected that we gradually went into operation in May and June, it will now come back,“Horáková said.
According to Horáková, Aquapalace had a huge number of visitors, for example in the sauna world. People who visit saunas strengthen their immunity and were upset about the closure, she said. The same is the case for visitors who go swimming in the morning. According to Horáková, regular customers did not limit their visits in any way. Aquapalace recorded the attendance of 1,000 people this week, which is almost no difference compared to last year, she said. With the increase in the number of infected people who do not go regularly, but the decrease in visits was.
Horáková also pointed out that season tickets bought by people will be extended by the closing time.
The worst is uncertainty
The worst is according to Horáková’s uncertainty, which now prevails. It is not possible to deal with the situation. “In the spring comes the government communicated with us. Now we expected in advance that we had already paved the way and we would have information in other restrictions. But it turned out that we didn’t have a partner to deal with“She said.
According to Horák’s seats, the state should compensate the operators due to further closures. According to her, Aquapalace has only used the Antivirus employment support program to date.
Aquapalace Prague is located in Cestlice near Prague. Last year, according to the CzechTourism agency’s ranking, it was the most visited place among entertaining tourist destinations. Over a million people visited it, and the fifth place among all the tourist destinations in the Czech Republic.