Tourists are returning to Prague. Wash your hands
Tourism in Prague has revived and is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels. Better than we expected, hoteliers comment on occupancy.
In 2021, in terms of occupancy, Prague was almost the worst compared to thirty-five European capitals. “While the pan-European average exceeded 43 percent according to STR data, only 26 percent of the hotel capacities that were in operation were occupied in Prague,” says Cushman Wakefield’s analysis for 2021.
Prague hoteliers are beginning to recover from the pandemic crisis
The statistics for this year and probably the outlook for next year look more optimistic. “We assume that this year the average annual occupancy of accommodation facilities in Prague will reach 60 percent, and the situation will be similar in other places of tourist interest in the Czech Republic,” explains Václav Stárek, president of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic.
How to do hotel business in exotic countries
Madagascar is a really beautiful country and tourists haven’t discovered it much yet. However, we do not want it to become a tourist museum. Our main concern is to preserve as much as possible the original nature, the diversity of the landscape and the atmosphere of the island. This is the unique, authentic value that Madagascar has and we want to preserve and present to our clients as well, says Danilo Turletto, Director of Sales and Marketing partner of Madagascar’s tourism and group Sound’s Travel & Leisure Sarl, during a long-haul flight from Nosy Be to Prague Group.
And hoteliers also confirm the increased interest in accommodation in Prague. “Current occupancy is higher than we expected and has approached the values of 2019,” explains Lukáš Pytloun, founder and director of the Pytloun Hotels network, which includes hotels in Prague and in the regions.
Foreign tourists started returning to Prague already in the spring, and hoteliers saw a sharp increase in accommodation even during Advent. There was also great interest on New Year’s Eve. “In recent weekends, occupancy ranged from 65 to 100 percent,” adds Karolína Polatová from the Falkensteiner Hotel in Prague.
Record November
The Orea hotel chain also reports record occupancy. In November, it exceeded 60 percent on this network, even though this month is off-peak. “We even achieved better November results than in the very successful 2019, compared to which we observe an increase in occupancy by 12 percentage points,” explains Jiří Fontana, director of business strategy of the Orea Hotels & Resorts hotel network. The hotel chain welcomed 25,000 more guests in November than in 2021.
![The ski resort in Pec pod Sněžkou in the Krkonoše Mountains in a picture from December 30, 2021.](https://www.newstream.cz/uploads/article/320x225_exact/0yw9kyveP2021123003410.jpeg)
New Year’s Eve guests fill the mountain hotels. But they buy shorter tours
According to hotel and guesthouse operators, interest in New Year’s Eve stays in the Czech Republic is considerable this year. In some places, it is already comparable to the time before the coronavirus pandemic, and especially on the mountains there are only the last free places left. Compared to the past, however, people now book their stay more often at the last minute and, in order to save money, choose shorter stays instead of weekly ones.
Hoteliers are looking forward to a good season
Like Prague, there will also be interesting tourist destinations in the Czech Republic. “During Black Friday, we sold discounted stay vouchers for next year. The interest was three to four times greater than last year. We were very surprised by the extraordinary interest, but unfortunately our capacity is not inflatable”, stated entrepreneur and investor Michal Šnobr, owner of the Amenity Resorts hotel chain.
![Hotel Augustine in the holiday season](https://www.newstream.cz/uploads/article/320x225_exact/The-refectory-bar.jpeg)
GALLERY: How to best enjoy Christmas? For example, in a luxury hotel
Oysters, caviar, foie gras, cubist design and the Augustinian library and the history of old Prague. This is what the small-town Augustine Hotel is all about. Now also for the Christmas and New Year program.
![Radim Jančura, head of RegioJet](https://www.newstream.cz/uploads/article/320x225_exact/profimedia-0651608392.jpg)
Radim Jančura: Buses and trains will become more expensive by ten to fifteen percent from next year
Radim Jančura, the owner of yellow buses and yellow trains, enjoys gastronomy the most. He has already bought a second hotel in the Austrian Alps, and he says he wants to build a new level of gastronomic services. It’s a somewhat unexpected shift, as its main business is transportation. For a long time, he fought a duel with Czech Railways and other carriers. Finally, he managed to build build a private transport company in the Czech Republic. He continues to develop it, he is critical of the government, but the restaurant business is stuck in his heart.
All about inflation
Inflate the scarecrow. What am I bringing her? How to defend yourself? How to invest, where to save savings, where are the decent interest that bonds bring? How do the state, the government and the CNB fight inflation? Who and why increases the price and how much? How to cope with price increases? Is it the right time to get a mortgage, will interest rates rise or fall, and for what reason? Context, tips, hints, warnings.
High inflation troubles not only the Czechia, but also other European countries and the United States. See the overview in the world.