The tourism sector of Prague like most other destinations was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The capital of the Czech Republic has been missing foreign visitors as it looks forward to its first full season following the coronavirus pandemic. As per the data from the Czech Statistical Office, last year Prague hosted 2,80,000 visitors while this year the country saw 2.8 million visitors during its first quarter, observing a sharp rise.
Germany has been the largest source of tourists travelling to the Czech capital but in recent years the tourist destination has only seen 2,31,290 people cross the border as compared to the first three months of 2019, in which the Czech capital hosted 4,07,558 people. Besides Germany, Poland and Slovakia are also major sources of tourism for Prague.
According to Klara Mala of Prague City Tourism, this year the crucial tourism industry is expected to recover from the economic losses that it has suffered over the past two years. She said, “People are ready to travel again. We can see more and more tourists in the streets of Prague,” reported Hindustan Times.
Patrick Pechac of Lucy Tours in Prague is relieved that the city is starting to feel full, but he feels that the pandemic is still affecting the tourism industry in a lot of ways and it’s still weighing down the numbers. “Tourists from China, India and other Asian countries still missing,” he said.
As restrictions fade, some are anticipated to return, but political concerns are likely to limit the number of Chinese visitors. Tours and flight connections have been eliminated due to a severe deterioration in diplomatic relations between Beijing and Prague in recent years.
The war between Ukraine and Russia is also one of the major challenges that the tourism industry is currently facing. In the year 2019 between January to March, over 130,000 Russians visited the Czech capital but due to the ongoing issues, they are unable to get visas or flights.
However, the city authorities are hoping to see tourism back to full speed next year.
