Czech Republic embraces double-digit growth in Chinese tourists

With China and the Czech Republic boosting their personnel and cultural exchanges in recent years, the beautiful scenery and diversified culture of the Central and Eastern European country is also attracting more Chinese travelers. Data showed that Chinese tourists traveling to the nation are seeing a 10 to 20 percent monthly growth at present. 

In recent years, as more and more Chinese travel around the world, the Czech Republic has become a must-see destination for Chinese tourists for its diverse tourism resources.

Thanks to its breath-taking beauty, Prague, the capital of the European nation, is even certified as a World Heritage site. Other than astonishing sceneries, the achievements of the country in music, architecture, painting and other artistic fields are also luring many Chinese tourists.

The first direct flight from Beijing to Prague was debuted last September. It is also the third route from China to a Central and Eastern European (CEE) country, after the Beijing-Warsaw and the Beijing-Minsk-Budapest flights.

Tourism industries of the two nations are optimistic about the flight given a double-digit growth in tourists.

According to statistics from the Czech Tourism Agency, 250,000 Chinese tourists visited the Czech Republic in 2015. With a strong momentum, the number of Chinese tourists in the Czech Republic is seeing a 10 to 20 percent monthly growth at present.

Such a double-digit growth is also a result of the increase in cultural and personnel exchanges between the two partners who established their diplomatic ties 67 year ago.

Endowed with profound cultural connotations, China and the Czech Republic have been maintaining multi-layered exchanges in the field. A Confucius Institute has taken root in the Czech Republic, and Czech writers such as Milan Kundera and Franz Kafka are widely known among the Chinese people.

Meanwhile, the first government-backed Chinese Traditional Medicine hospital has been founded in the Czech Republic, and the cultural activities hosted by the Czech embassy in China are gaining more popularity in Beijing.

The Mole, a classic Czech animation, has touched the hearts of generations of Chinese people ever since it was created in the 1970s.

Cultural exchanges have become an important cornerstone of the comprehensive friendly ties between China and the Czech Republic, or even the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) at large, said Huo Yuzhen, special representative of the China-CEEC cooperation affairs of the Chinese foreign ministry.

“It is also a pillar for the sustainable development of the China-CEEC ties,” the former Chinese ambassador to Romania and the Czech Republic added.

As a key country along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the Czech Republic also maintains frequent business contacts with China. As a result, Prague is gradually becoming an aviation hub between China and CEE countries.

More items and activities are being added to China-Czech exchanges as well. Take ice hockey, the Czech Republic’s national sport for instance. The Czech national team is preparing to set up a training camp in collaboration with China as an effort to improve Chinese players’ ice hockey skills and better prepare them for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The maiden flight ceremony of the direct flight from Beijing to Prague by Hainan Airlines was held at the Václav Havel Airport Prague on September 23, 2015. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, along with Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister of Regional Development, State Secretary and other Czech political heavyweights attended the ceremony. (Photo: Chinese Embassy in the Czech Republic)

The ice hockey camp kicked off on October 1, 2015 at the Champion Rink in Beijing.