The Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) has released figures concerning tourism in the first quarter of 2022, which show a significant rebound after two years of Covid-19 restrictions. Photo credit: Freepik
Czech Republic, 12 May (BD) – In the first quarter of 2022, 2.8 million guests were accommodated in accommodation facilities in the Czech Republic. Of these, nearly one third came from abroad, while the number of domestic tourists was 1.9 million.
“The number of guests in accommodation facilities increased significantly compared to the previous year,” said Pavel Vančura, head of CZSO’s Tourism and Environmental Statistics Unit. “However, the basis of comparison is low due to the restrictions caused by last year’s pandemic. Attendances in accommodation facilities in the first quarter have not yet reached 2019 volumes; in particular, guests from abroad are still missing.”
The largest nationality group among the foreign guests using Czech accommodation services came, as usual, from Germany. In the surveyed facilities, Germans still account for a quarter of the guests from abroad (234,000 arrivals). The second largest group was from Slovakia (98,000) followed by Poland (79,000).
Hotels recorded an increase in the total number of guests by 2 million (939.6%). 17% of tourists preferred to stay in guesthouses. The number of guest nights in group accommodation increased sevenfold to 7.9 million nights in Q1. Guests from the Czech Republic were the most common; 7 out of 10 guest nights were by Czech residents. The number of overnight stays by residents exceeded that of the first quarter of 2019, before the pandemic.
In the first quarter of 2022, the most visited regions were, aside from Prague, the Hradec Králové and Liberec Regions, which are popular for winter vacations.
“In the reporting period, ten times more guests arrived in collective accommodation establishments than in the previous year. The number of guests from abroad increased sixteen fold, and the number of domestic guests accommodated was also significantly higher than last year,” said Marie Boušková, director of CZSO’s Department of Business Statistics, Transport, Services, Tourism and Environment.
Revenues in services in the Czech Republic increased 12.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, but have not yet reached the same levels as before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to CZSO.
The results indicate that, after the removal of Covid-19 restrictions, tourist facilities and the movement of people is slowly returning to normal.
