Number of tourists in Czechia halved in 2020

Last year, 10.8 million tourists stayed in the Czech Republic. That is a year-on-year decrease of 51%, says the Czech Statistical Office.

The number of visitors to Czechia grew continuously for several years. However, the pandemic which started last year significantly reduced the possibility of travel. The number of tourists decreased in all regions, with 93% fewer of them visiting Prague (that is 1.9 million less than in 2019).

There were 28% fewer domestic tourists than in the previous year. Their number fell from 11 million to nearly 8 million. Most foreign tourists came from Germany, 819,000. It is around 60% less than the previous year. The number of arrivals from far destinations fell the most. Statistics say, that there were 93.6% fewer Chinese tourists than in 2019. In total, the number of foreign visitors decreased by 74% year-on-year.

The accommodation services had to close with the beginning of the pandemic last spring. They were able to reopen during the summer and have been once again closed since autumn. Thus, only the summer season brought a revival of demand for accommodation - however, with mainly domestic visitors.

According to the Czech Statistical Office, more Czechs used the services of five-star hotels and camps last year, mainly due to more favorable prices. These facilities also focused more on domestic clients.

"The holiday easing of restrictions has led to a huge interest in vacations in the Czech Republic. Accommodation of domestic guests increased by more than twenty percent year-on-year basis in July and August," said Pavel Vančura, Head of the CZSO Tourism Statistics Department.