The majority of East Asians are eager to travel again. Among other things, high air ticket prices, low frequency of transport connections and lack of staff prevent them from doing so. However, the resumption of direct flight between Prague and Seoul, which is scheduled for March 27 this year, should help significantly. Directors of foreign offices of the Czech Tourism Authority - CzechTourism discussed current situation and restart of the tourist industry after the covid-19 pandemic at an export workshop. That focused on dynamic consumer markets in China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia (SE Asia).
In October last year, Japan restored visa-free travel and opened its borders. The Japanese were very looking forward to it, they see Europe as an ideal place for sightseeing tourism. Same as the South Koreans. The majority of them is planning to make at least one trip abroad this year. In addition to attractiveness of the place, both groups of tourists choose their vacation with regard to safety and price of the destination. More and more people are looking for luxurious hotels to stay in and they are very interested in traditional Czech cuisine. Congress and incentive tourism is gradually being renewed, so-called premium travelling is growing in importance - travel as an example of social status associated with experiences and travelling throughout regions. Those attract tourists mainly to wine routes, hiking and culinary tours.
An unfavourable epidemiological situation persists in China. Renewal of direct line between Prague and Shanghai is thus under negotiation. In general, however, the Chinese want to travel for non-traditional experiences, they love Czech gastronomy and are willing to spend on quality accommodation. In the countries of SE Asia, the travel situation is more favourable. Thanks to cancellation of pandemic measures in spring last year, local residents can travel abroad again. Shortly after the opening, CzechTourism, followed this trend by significant development of its activities in the region, and the Czech Republic thus recorded a noticeable increase in interest. Tourists from SE Asia want to travel especially for non-traditional experiences, currently they are attracted by winter and snow.
"The drop in tourists from Asia has hit the Czech tourism industry hard. Before the covid pandemic, China was in 4th place (600 thousand tourists) in terms of the number of foreign tourists arriving in the Czech Republic. About 400,000 Koreans arrived in 2019. At the same time, in the case of Koreans and Chinese, these are some of the most reputable tourists, i.e., guests who spend a lot in the destination," says Jan Herget, Director of the Czech Tourism Authority – CzechTourism and adds: "The outage of East Asian tourists is then very obvious in domestic tourist industry, and return of these solvent guests is, from economic point of view, crucial. That's why I'm excited about the renewed Prague-Seoul air connection and I believe that soon will follow the restart of Prague-Shanghai line as well."
CzechTourism’s foreign representation (FR) for South Korea and the Philippines will organize the DISCOVER CZECHIA 2023 roadshow in Seoul and Busan from March 15 to 17. The event is intended to support development of Korean incoming, help re-establish relations with local travel agencies and tour operators, and last but not least, the previously mentioned restoration of direct flight to Prague. At the roadshow, Czech entities and entrepreneurs in tourism will be able to address the Korean market as directly as possible. At the same time, there will be a number of news and current trends in the renewal of the market and direct flight connection Korean Air.
Export workshops target specifics of those markets where CzechTourism has a foreign representation (FR). It is the directors of FR who lead the seminars. They are held regularly throughout the year, last year a total of eight working meetings took place. "Last year's series of export workshops started with a meeting of Polish and Slovak markets, followed by Benelux and Scandinavia. Then Italy and France were introduced, Spain together with Latin America followed. Germany with Austria, Korea, Japan and China continued. The penultimate meeting focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, and the series ended with the source market of the Middle East," states František Reismüller, Director of Marketing and Foreign Representations Department of the Czech Tourism Authority - CzechTourism.
On the website of CzechTourism, is among other things, possible to find more information about the market in South Korea or Japan. CzechTourism plans export workshops this year as well, details including applications will be available at www.czechtourism.cz and social networks.
An unfavourable epidemiological situation persists in China. Renewal of direct line between Prague and Shanghai is thus under negotiation. In general, however, the Chinese want to travel for non-traditional experiences, they love Czech gastronomy and are willing to spend on quality accommodation. In the countries of SE Asia, the travel situation is more favourable. Thanks to cancellation of pandemic measures in spring last year, local residents can travel abroad again. Shortly after the opening, CzechTourism, followed this trend by significant development of its activities in the region, and the Czech Republic thus recorded a noticeable increase in interest. Tourists from SE Asia want to travel especially for non-traditional experiences, currently they are attracted by winter and snow.
"The drop in tourists from Asia has hit the Czech tourism industry hard. Before the covid pandemic, China was in 4th place (600 thousand tourists) in terms of the number of foreign tourists arriving in the Czech Republic. About 400,000 Koreans arrived in 2019. At the same time, in the case of Koreans and Chinese, these are some of the most reputable tourists, i.e., guests who spend a lot in the destination," says Jan Herget, Director of the Czech Tourism Authority – CzechTourism and adds: "The outage of East Asian tourists is then very obvious in domestic tourist industry, and return of these solvent guests is, from economic point of view, crucial. That's why I'm excited about the renewed Prague-Seoul air connection and I believe that soon will follow the restart of Prague-Shanghai line as well."
CzechTourism’s foreign representation (FR) for South Korea and the Philippines will organize the DISCOVER CZECHIA 2023 roadshow in Seoul and Busan from March 15 to 17. The event is intended to support development of Korean incoming, help re-establish relations with local travel agencies and tour operators, and last but not least, the previously mentioned restoration of direct flight to Prague. At the roadshow, Czech entities and entrepreneurs in tourism will be able to address the Korean market as directly as possible. At the same time, there will be a number of news and current trends in the renewal of the market and direct flight connection Korean Air.
Export workshops target specifics of those markets where CzechTourism has a foreign representation (FR). It is the directors of FR who lead the seminars. They are held regularly throughout the year, last year a total of eight working meetings took place. "Last year's series of export workshops started with a meeting of Polish and Slovak markets, followed by Benelux and Scandinavia. Then Italy and France were introduced, Spain together with Latin America followed. Germany with Austria, Korea, Japan and China continued. The penultimate meeting focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, and the series ended with the source market of the Middle East," states František Reismüller, Director of Marketing and Foreign Representations Department of the Czech Tourism Authority - CzechTourism.
On the website of CzechTourism, is among other things, possible to find more information about the market in South Korea or Japan. CzechTourism plans export workshops this year as well, details including applications will be available at www.czechtourism.cz and social networks.