The tourism sector in the Czech Republic marked a significant milestone this year. For the first time, the total number of visitors during the summer season surpassed the pre-COVID-19 numbers of 2019. In the third quarter of 2021, which includes the holiday season, 7.9 million people stayed in hotels, pensions, and camps in the country, marking an increase of 7.9% compared to the previous year. Both foreign and domestic guests contributed to these numbers, resulting in a total of 21.4 million nights, a five percent increase year-over-year.
Roman Mikula, head of tourism and environment statistics at the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ), said, “The total number of visits in the summer season for the first time surpassed the results from the pre-Covid year 2019.” The number of arrivals was 4.3 percent higher than in 2019, and overnight stays exceeded 2019 by 2.4 percent. “This year’s numbers of accommodated Czechs were almost 15 percent higher than four years ago, but we still lack about a tenth of foreign guests,” Mikula added.
From July to September, the number of foreign guests increased by more than a fifth to three million, and more than 4.8 million domestic guests arrived, roughly one percent more than the previous year. The number of overnight stays increased for foreign guests by almost 19 percent to approximately 7.4 million nights, while overnight stays of people from the Czech Republic decreased by one percent to 14 million.
Despite the overall increase, not all areas saw growth. Camp providers, for example, reported a worse season than the previous year in terms of domestic tourists, who make up 85 percent of their clientele. The number of Czechs in camps decreased by 3.4 percent, and their overnight stays fell by 7.3 percent.
The third quarter saw the highest number of foreign guests from Germany, who still made up more than a fifth of foreign clientele in the monitored accommodation facilities. Compared to last year, the number of arrivals from Germany increased by 19.2 percent to 690,000. Poles were the second most numerous group, with 286,000 accommodated, an increase of 16.5 percent year-over-year. Slovaks were third, increasing by 8.4 percent to 282,000 guests.