Tourists from abroad in the Czech Republic spent about CZK 5 billion with payment cards in July and August, according to an analysis by Global Payments. This was 47 percent higher year on year, but the volume was also 19 percent higher compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
According to Global Payments, the world’s largest provider of payment services and technology, Germans spent the most money on cards in the country this summer, specifically CZK 1.2 billion.
In addition to the total spending over the holiday months, it said the number of transactions also rose year-on-year, from 2.5 million last year to about 4.9 million. However, as more people used credit cards, the average transaction value fell by about 23% to 1,575.
After the Germans, the Slovaks paid the most with cards in the Czech Republic, spending around CZK 600 million in the summer.
The third place in the volume of transactions went to the Irish with CZK 411 million. Ondřej Stříbrský, an economist from Global Payments, also pointed out a curiosity when a company from the island state of St. Kitts and Nevis recorded a single payment in the Czech Republic in July and August, namely CZK 30,548.
The Czech Statistical Office only has data on hotel guests for July. A total of 1.4 million, about 690,000 were foreigners. Compared to the seventh month of last year, there were about 288,000 more arrivals.