KUDYZNUDY.CZ

CzechTourism

Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism
 
The Czech Republic is gradually consolidating its position as an established European tourist destination. The country’s membership of the European Union, and to a large extent the activities of the CzechTourism agency and its offices in Europe and overseas, are making a significant contribution towards achieving this goal.
 
The state-funded Czech Tourist Authority was set up in 1993 to promote the country as an attractive tourist destination abroad and on the domestic market. Czech regions, towns and commercial entities are important partners of the agency in the promotion of the country. The agency comes under the Czech Ministry for Regional Development. Since 1st August 2003 the agency’s official title has been the Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism (further CzechTourism or the CzechTourism agency).
On the basis of long term tourism research, CzechTourism focuses a large part of its activities on countries which at present make up the largest sources of incoming tourism to the Czech Republic. These are first and foremost neighbouring countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland), then come European countries with high numbers of tourists travelling abroad (Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Russia and Spain). Since 2003, CzechTourism has also been targeting Scandinavia. The most important markets further afield are primarily Japan, Canada and USA. The agency’s activities have also been extended to other potential markets, in particular countries in the Middle East and South East Asia. At present there is also huge interest in the Czech Republic across Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic States.
 
As part of its mission, CzechTourism creates short and medium term strategies for promoting the Czech Republic abroad. At the beginning of 2004, the new Strategy for the Promotion of the Czech Republic came into being which concentrated on the promotion of so-called national products. Five locations were selected (Prague, Carlsbad, Český Krumlov, the so-called ‚rock towns‘ and Olomouc) and familiarisation trips to these places and the surrounding areas were planned. Two seasonal products (Christmas and Easter) were also singled out.
 
In 2007 the agency moved from geographically and seasonally based themes to more generally defined products. These are The Wealth of History (castles, chateaux, industrial heritage and religious sites), Czech Spas, Active Holidays (golf, cycling and extreme sports as well as angling and hiking), Conference, Corporate and Incentive Tourism and Experience Holidays (gastronomy, music, festivals etc). As part of the Active Holiday theme, CzechTourism has concentrated on promoting golf tourism. Czech golf chalked up a huge success when it was declared Undiscovered Golf Destination 2007 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) at the International Golf Travel Market in Spain (November 2006). The new slogan Czech Republic - The Golf Republic is evidence of the expansion in golf tourism in this country.
 
Today, the Czech Republic is represented abroad by CzechTourism’s 25 offices (in Argentina, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Italy, Israel, Japan, Canada, Korea, Hungary, Mexico, Germany 2x, The Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Russia, Greece, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA and the UK) and further offices (in Scandinavia and the Baltic States) are being planned. The activities of the offices abroad, which work directly with travel professionals and the influential foreign media, concentrate on promoting the Czech Republic as an ideal destination for a relaxing holiday. Many events for the public mean that the individual tourist is also taken into consideration. At present, 80% of tourists who come to the Czech Republic are from countries where CzechTourism has an office.
 
CzechTourism works intensively with journalists and all other types of media in the following ways:
  • The website www.CzechTourism.com is a valuable source of information for journalists as well as the general public. There visitors can find reliable information on the Czech Republicin18 languages. The Czech Republic also occupies a section of the www.visiteurope.com website.
  • The agency issues press releases which provide up-to-date news on events in the tourist industry, culture and sport. These are distributed to journalists by e-mail in English, German, French, Spanish and Russian and are freely available at www.CzechTourism.com.
  • An e-mail iNFO-bulletin (http://bulletin.czechtourism.cz/) also keeps those interested informed about what is happening in tourism, culture, sport and transport. Every two months it brings information on interesting events of interest to visitors. iNFO-bulletin is available in English, German and Russian, and to receive it those interested can register through the website mentioned above.
  • Images are also available free of charge from the CzechTourism media gallery (http://photo.czechtourism.com). Here one can find photographs (around 3000), videos, e-postcards and basic footage which can be used by TV and film companies etc.
  • The internet catalogue www.kudyznudy.cz (in Czech and English) helps visitors look for leisure activities in the individual regions of the Czech Republic.
  • CzechTourism organises individual and group press and fam trips for journalists, film crews and tour operators. In 2008, two international workshops bearing the title Enjoy the Czech Republic will be held.Theseinclude a range of familiarisation trips into the Czech regions aimed at promoting national products.
  • CzechTourism also assists journalists acquire the necessary permits to film and take photographs.
 
Official participation of the CzechTourism agency at international tourism trade fairs, working jointly with other tourism bodies, is also an important part of the promotion of the Czech Republic. A list of trade fairs is available on the agency’s Czech website at www.czechtourism.cz (link „veletrhy“ - fairs). The agency also organises workshops and presentations in those countries where it is represented. The aim of these events is to keep local companies and the media etc up to speed on the Czech Republic as far as tourism is concerned, and above all to give Czech service providers the opportunity to introduce their products to and forge new contacts with local tour operators.
 
The Czech Republic has great potential in the field of conference tourism as it can provide services comparable to those anywhere in the world and is also one of the safest destinations on earth. For this reason CzechTourism is working on the promotion of the Czech Republic as an ideal conference and incentive destination. The marketing activities of the conference and incentive department include presentations and workshops in key places and participation in a series of tourism trade fairs focusing on MICE business. To compliment the presentations abroad, although this is not a condition, the conference and incentive department arrange fam and press trips. The success of the Czech Republic in the field of conference and incentive tourism is also confirmed by the fact that in the year 2000 Prague hosted the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in 2002 NATO summit and in 2006 the congress of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). The Czech presidency of the EU in 2009 will also test the conference capacity of the Czech regions.
 
One of the key activities of the CzechTourism agency is the publication of printed promotional materials in 17 languages. These are distributed broad in order to encourage the public to visit the Czech Republic.
 
The Czech Republic’sfirst televised advertising campaign in 2004 helped build up the image of the country. The campaign entitled Come to slow down was just the first and soon advertising campaigns in neighbouring countries (Poland, Austria, Germany and Slovakia) followed in its wake. In 2006, CNN, CNBC and Eurosport were attracting tourists with a new advert called The Czech Republic – A Symphony of Experiences. In 2007, the agency first focused on the Hungarian market and then on promoting its new website www.CzechTourism.com with an internet campaign in 16 countries around Europe. In 2008, a roadshow is set to visit numerous towns and cities across Russia.
 
CzechTourism is involved in a host of other activities. It organises TOURFILM, the longest-running festival of films and other media with a tourist theme in the world(www.tourfilm.cz), it participates in the joint promotion of the Visegrád Four (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) on overseas markets (www.european-quartet.com), holds contests for foreign travel agents who sell the Czech Republic and organises a national project for schoolchildren called Tourists Welcome.
 
 
In general, CzechTourism strives to maintain a brand identity for the Czech Republic. This is the official logo for the promotion of tourism in the Czech Republic:

Logo-ceska-republika-en
 
You will find more detailed information on the Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism and the agency’s activities at www.CzechTourism.com.