The tourism sector is sounding the alarm, entrepreneurs want stronger state support
Critical voices and demands came from the participants of the round table, which organized a platform associating “professional” organizations. Speakers emphasized that the capital and “most vulnerable” region has been the capital since the beginning of the crisis.
“While in the pre-Christmas year 2019 Prague was visited by more than 8.4 million guests, of which approximately 6.8 million from abroad, in the first half of this year it was only less than 1.9 million guests. There were just over 286,000 foreigners. It is obvious that such a decline of women to the day of the whole Czech tourism. It is essential not only to urgently support inbound tourism, but also to remove the persistent barriers that complicate work in this segment of the economy, “said the President of the Czech Tourism Union and Hotelier Viliam Sivek.
In a recent interview with Právo, he confided that only one of the several hotels he operates is now open and that the number of his employees has “shrunk” to less than a quarter compared to the previous year. “Currently, over 25 percent of hotels in Prague have withdrawn roles, I assume that the number will rise to 45 percent during the winter. I currently know four-star hotels 200 meters from Wenceslas Square that are open but do not provide breakfast. I can’t imagine that I would admit at any time, “said Sivek. He also stated in the interview that the return of foreigners to the metropolis is very gradual. “They are an exception, I know important hotels like Hilton, which thrive, Americans go there, filmmakers for Netflix, but elsewhere they are empty,” he said.
Entrepreneurs in the tourism industry recall, among other things, that the Czech state, unlike many other European countries, does not directly support travel agencies that provide organized tours for foreign visitors (so-called incom). At the same time, their turnover reached several billion crowns the year before and brought another billion to companies in “connected” services. In response to criticism, the relevant Ministry for Regional Development (MRD) recalled, in addition to indirect support in the form of CzechTourism’s marketing campaigns, a number of subsidy titles to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, some of which were specifically targeted at individual tourism segments.
“The Ministry has provided entrepreneurs in tourism with 8.5 billion crowns in this way alone. Gradually, there were several rounds of covid support to various segments of tourism – Covid support for tourism, Covid accommodation, Covid spa, “said the spokesman of the resort Vilém Frček. According to him, as soon as the pandemic situation allows, the Ministry of Regional Development will focus on fulfilling the Tourism Development Strategy until 2030, which emphasizes, among other things, innovation, digitization and sustainability.
“In the field of digitization, we want to implement several projects in cooperation with CzechTourism, which can move tourism on the imaginary ranking of competitiveness, eg in reducing bureaucratic burden on entrepreneurs, streamlining local fees and reinvesting them in tourism infrastructure, connecting products and services in tourism, etc., “said Frček about the future.
Difficult situation with guides
The participants of the round table also once again drew attention to the long-term difficult situation of professional tourist guides, who worked in Prague around six stoves before the crisis, some of whom became foreign language teachers. According to Miroslav Prokeš from the Association of Guides of the Czech Republic, more than a third of guides lost their jobs throughout the Czech Republic, and foreigners are “pushing”. Prokeš pointed out that the number of unskilled guides for foreigners is therefore growing in Prague. The amendment to the law in force since March requires both groups of guides (with and without qualifications) to be visibly marked with a license for guide activities of either the first or second degree.
“At first glance, the customer can distinguish a qualified guide from an unqualified guide. It is then up to him which form of interpretation he prefers. This measure allows both guides who focus on a specific market segment and ‘classic’ ones, focusing primarily on history and culture, to operate on the market, ”added spokesman Frček to the current practice.
Michal Veselý, who runs an agency arranging guide services around Prague with his wife, was already expecting a very gradual return to the pre-crisis “normal”, when more than a hundred people worked for the family business. “This year we could get some 30 to 40 percent of turnover before the crisis, a year later to 50 to 60, next year to 70 to 80. That is, if all goes well,” Veselý assumes.
Jiří Vlasák, a representative of the Initiative for the Rescue of Tour Bus Transport, described the tightening of exceptions for the entry of buses into the center in Prague this year as an example of “nonsensical” regulation. “The current change of entrances in Prague means, for example, at congresses that instead of one minibus for 24 people, which will bring guests from the congress hall, there will be at least six taxi cars,” says Vlasák. According to the management of the metropolis, however, the current rules of exceptions are also enforceable and the dialogue with the Tourist Union on making business easier in Prague has already begun.
“In any case, what they criticize is something that has been operating in Prague since 1999. Only when we really started to enforce it. This is nothing new. The only thing that has changed is the required EURO 6 standard, and here we have also met. A year and a half, we postponed this request to 1.6.2022 so that companies would have enough time to deal with the crisis caused by the pandemic, “stressed Deputy Mayor Adam Scheinherr (Prague himself).