Hotel on fire in Czech Republic before New Year 2016

2015 and especially the last weeks of this year are a time of harvest for hoteliers in the Czech Republic.

Staromestske Square is crowded with people, mainly foreign tourists, on New Year's Eve. Photo: VNA.

Business people in the industry were also surprised when the rate of guests staying in the Czech Republic this year, mainly foreigners, reached 76.3%.

According to a VNA correspondent in Prague, Ms. Daniela Nova, Commercial Director of the famous hotel group Accor (France), said that the unstable security situation in a series of European countries has forced leaders and officials of countries who planned to attend conferences and meetings scheduled to take place in Paris (France) or Brussels (Belgium) to move to the capital city of Prague. The number of rooms booked in the Accor hotel chain increased sharply in the first quarter of 2016.

Previously, in the first three quarters of this year, up to 93% of foreign tourists stayed in luxury hotels in Prague, leading to an increase in room rates. According to data from STR Global, a company that analyzes the situation at 3- to 5-star hotels, the average hotel room rate from January to the end of October this year increased by 9.6% compared to the same period last year to 80.42 euros (88.16 USD). However, room rates here are still lower than in most other European capitals due to the low exchange rate between the koruna, the euro and the USD.

Czech hoteliers also hope that the opening of new air routes will facilitate the influx of Chinese and South Korean tourists. In the first three quarters of this year, 213,000 Chinese stayed in Czech hotels, up 41% compared to the same period last year, helping to offset the losses caused by a 39% drop in Russian tourists.

Josef Bara, head of the EuroAgentur hotel network, said the increased demand for accommodation in Prague is related to the fact that foreign companies are organizing many activities there. Meanwhile, analysts said that the security situation in the coming year will be a key factor in choosing a place to stay, not only for conference or business meeting organizers, but also for individuals. This situation can significantly affect the change in tourism trends, reflected in the increased number of visitors to cities such as Prague, Berlin (Germany), Vienna (Austria) ...

According to VNA/News