old spa complex Lázně Kyselka

Fewer Germans Go To Spas

According to Prague Daily Monitor due to current worldwide economic crisis less foreign guests stay in Czech spa towns. In the first quarter of year 2009 in comparison with the first quarter of the last year the number of spa visitors decreased by about 10%. Many of them are foreign citizens, mainly Germans.

The majority of foreign visitors prefer to stay in Karlovy Vary and the Karlovy Vary region. So the downturn hit mostly this destination. But not all of the operators are troubled by the current situation. Alexandr Rebjonok, general director of Imperial Group based in Karlovy Vary commented: "The decline hasn't been so drastic. We have noticed that there are fewer Germans, but it is not so bad. I expect that our target group has not been so greatly affected by this crisis."

But Czechs still book spa vacations as usual, so those operators who focus on catering local guest need not to worry, at least at the moment. Jiří Dědek, operational director of Lázně Luhačovice said: "We've seen an 18% decline in the number of foreign guests, but the number of Czech guests remains the same. This despite the fact that guests who stay at our spa for medical reasons and whose stays are covered by insurance companies make up only a fifth of our clientele."

Photo: Bílina, old spa complex Lázně Kyselka, by Lysippos (wikimedia.org)

Czech, Czech Republic, Czech tourism, Czech spas

Date: 09/06/2009