Almost six million tourists came to Prague in 2022. Data predict the return of Asian travellers, and the direct connection between Prague and Seoul will help
Prague, 9 February 2023 – According to newly published data from the Czech Statistical Office, 5,976,267 travellers arrived in Prague last year. Up to one quarter of them were domestic tourists, the numbers of which increased by more than 20% compared to 2019. According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, travellers from Asian countries, absent from the metropolis in previous years, started to return to Prague in the winter period. In addition, according to a report by the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic, Prague has managed to increase the average price per room over the last year, thus catching up with competing metropolises such as Budapest. This is also an indicator that Prague is profiling itself as a premium destination where tourists are willing to spend their money. Most tourists came to Prague last year from the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, the United States, Poland and Great Britain.
According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, a total of 5,976,267 tourists arrived in Prague in 2022, approximately three quarters of the number in 2019. After the preceding years marked by pandemics, tourists from Asian countries have slowly started to return to the metropolis, with their numbers increasing by almost 400% compared to 2021. Last year, the majority of Asian travellers came from South Korea (47,416) and India (40,886). However, these numbers are still less than 25% of those for 2019, when more than one million Asian tourists came to Prague annually.
“Traditional tourists from Asia are returning to Prague after several years. We are very pleased that in March the regular route from Seoul to Prague will be restored, and thus the connection with the Asian market, a very important source market, will be reopened,” says Jana Adamcová, vice-chair of the Prague City Tourism Board of Directors. Domestic travellers are also increasingly heading to the capital, with 419,939 arriving in the last quarter of 2022. The growth trend in domestic visitor arrivals started to pick up in 2020, with approximately 20% more domestic tourists arriving last year than in 2019. The next-highest visitor numbers were, as is traditional, from neighbouring countries, with Germany (859,260) and Slovakia (349,504) being the leaders. Third place is held by tourists from the USA, of whom 323,042 arrived in 2022. Poland (276,512) and Great Britain (268,750) round out the top five.
According to the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic, hotels in Prague will reach an average occupancy rate of 58% in 2022. Although this is 20% less than in 2019, according to the association’s representatives last year still represented a significant recovery compared to the previous two years. The average price of four-star hotels was EUR 98 in 2022, approximately EUR 3 more than in 2019.
“We are glad that, partly thanks to the cooperation with PCT, we experienced a significant revival of tourism in Prague last year. It can also be seen that the average price of hotels has increased slightly compared to 2019, as costs have risen by more than 30%. Prague is coming back to life, even though we are still struggling to some extent with the issue of short-term flat rentals to tourists in Prague. All tourists, regardless of where they stay, use the city services in the same way, so the same rules should apply to everyone,” concludes Václav Stárek, president of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic.
Prague has been profiling and presenting itself as a premium destination through marketing campaigns over the last two years. It launched the digital Stay in Prague campaign last year together with Prague Airport and the CzechTourism agency. This has reached some 24 million travellers interested in culture, dining and quality services.