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| News | Business | Feature | Opinion |
Tourist Info |
Classifieds |
Wednesday, December 2, 1998
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Poor plan means fewer tourists By James Drake Although tourism is still a pillar industry, insiders say the Czech Tourist Authority -- the government-funded body in charge of promoting the Czech Republic overseas -- desperately needs an aggressive and focused marketing campaign if the country is to remain among the world's top tourist destinations. The trouble is, critics allege, the money -- and the will -- for such an initiative may be lacking. And the figures may be bearing out that charge. The number of visitors to the Czech Republic fell for the second year in a row, according to the latest statistics from the Czech Statistical Office (CSU). "They are making nice speeches, but the reality is different," said Jiri Pavlik, director of the Prague-based company Agentura Triumf, which organizes travel industry trade fairs. "The Czech Republic has had a stall at something like 35 exhibitions this year, but they don't have enough money to make decent presentations." Industry figures acknowledge that the current situation isn't entirely the current government's fault. Funding for tourism was always a low priority for the right-wing government of former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, which ruled the country for most of the post-1989 period until its ouster last fall. "The attitude was, let the free market do its work. They were ideologically against any form of subsidies," said Vaclav Novotny, head of the Prague Information Service, which promotes the city abroad. "Consequently, what marketing did go on had a minimal impact." For a time, the hands-off attitude seemed to work well. In 1995, the Czech government appropriated about $3 million (90 million Kc) for the Czech Tourist Authority, compared to Hungary's $9.3 million and Poland's $10.5 million for their own authorities. Even so, the World Trade Organization reported in October 1995 that the Czech Republic's growing tourism income placed the country among the top five countries in the world with the highest increase in revenues from tourism. But for the past two years, while funding has remained virtually constant, visitor numbers have fallen. The tourist authority has a budget of 83.4 million Kc, 23 percent of which is spread among 13 international offices. During the first nine months of 1998, 88.2 million foreign tourists visited, down 2.9 percent from the same period of 1997. September alone saw a decline of 8.5 percent in the number of the foreign tourists visiting the country. In 1997, tourism revenues fell 10.5 percent to 3.65 billion Kc from an unprecedented 4.08 billion Kc in 1996. The number of foreign tourists hit a record high of more than 100 million in 1996. "We are trying to attract wealthier customers," said Jana Kucerova, head of public relations for the tourist authority. "We want them to stay for a longer period and sample experiences other than Prague." The average daily expenditure of foreign visitors is about $30, according to the CSU, still far behind the $125 that tourists in West European countries spend each day. At first glance -- with some 2,000 castles and chateaux, 40 architecturally protected medieval town centers and six areas listed as UNESCO world heritage sites -- tourism wouldn't seem to be such a big problem. But "apart from Prague and Brno, the quality of accommodation is not sufficient," acknowledged Vaclav Kupka, deputy minister of regional development. "I'm not just talking about accommodation, but services in general." The Ministry for Regional Development is responsible for tourism. It is this lack of infrastructure outside the capital that poses the biggest obstacle to the development of a more sophisticated market, according to officials. "If we had started to invest into national heritage five years ago, a bigger profit would have been made than when we invested into loss-making enterprises," said Zdenek Troup, manager of the Zlata Koruna monastery, a national heritage monument in south Bohemia. "The state injects money into a monument, and services, pensions, restaurants and shops start to sprout up, all of them financed from private sources." Even if well-heeled tourists were willing to rough it in cheaper hotels and pensions, the tourist authority still has its work cut out selling the off-the-beaten-track attractions in the first place. "Our marketing strategy exists only on paper, because we lack the funds we need to put it into action. My budget for this year is only $80,000," said Katerina Pavlitova, director of the Czech Tourist Authority's New York office. By contrast, Pavlitova's counterparts from Hungary and Poland enjoy budgets of $460,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. "We even have to ask people to pay the postage when we send them brochures," she said. "We are way behind our East European colleagues even though we have perhaps more to offer to American tourists than they."
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