For the first time, the Stay in Prague marketing campaign was paid for by tourists themselves. Part of the revenue from the overnighting levy went on the marketing campaign that reached 24 million potential visitors

“In cooperation with PCT we have managed to prepare and launch a number of great projects that are changing Prague’s tourism approach. Thanks to the marketing campaigns, which we are now financing from the proceeds of the updated overnighting levy, the classier clients we are seeking to attract henceforth are discovering our metropolis for themselves,” says Hana Třeštíková, Councillor for Culture and Tourism.

The three-month campaign with a budget of 7.5 million, which ran from June to September and supported Prague’s new image, has been aiming at the more well-to-do clientèle, aged 35 and up. In terms of the online parts of the campaign, some 118,429,370 site visits from eleven targeted European countries have been registered to date. According to the data, almost two million users went on to visit the stayinprague.eu site, and over 16 thousand of them headed directly to their selected accommodation platform. The most successful Prague promotion channels were Google and YouTube content networks. 

“This year’s Stay in Prague campaign was most successful in the German, Polish and Italian markets. Data from our tourist centres over the summer bears this out, with a notably high concentration of visitors from these countries. The Prague Visitor Pass itself was most frequently bought online by Germans and Italians, which confirms that tourists from these countries have indeed visited the metropolis,” summarizes František Cipro, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague City Tourism, adding: “Thanks to the higher return from the overnight stay levy and its subsequent reinvestment in sustainable tourism, we can strategize our marketing activities and motivate the kind of tourists primarily interested in Prague’s quality services, history, monuments or premium gastronomic services.”

“In the past we had some difficulties with finding appropriate funds in Prague’s budget to support tourism, which led to underfunding in this area. Having agreed on the overnight stay levy with the hotel business sector, the city is now reinvesting a substantial portion of these revenues into cultivating tourism. I am delighted we have secured a lasting way of financing these endeavours with this new mechanism” adds Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague Pavel Vyhnánek responsible for Finance and Budgeting.

The Stay in Prague campaign has followed on from its successful winter predecessor and has been aimed at pre-selected markets. Prague City Tourism targeted European markets, Prague Airport launched Stay in Prague in the United States of America and CzechTourism in the Middle East.

“We greatly appreciate our long-term cooperation with Prague City Tourism and the effective campaigns we are part of; they make sense to us. It is evident that Prague has sufficient potential to attract well-off international tourists willing to pay a premium for quality accommodation and services. Thanks to these initiatives, hotels have this year managed to return to the 2019 average pricing and we are sure that together with other campaigns we will also increase the average occupancy rate. This is important not only for service providers, but also for the Prague residents who rely on work in tourism and related professions for their livelihood,” concludes Václav Stárek, President of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants. 

Prague City Tourism representatives speak of demonstrable success in attracting tourists to the city who are interested in quality services enriched with culture and gastronomy. This is also shown by the data obtained in cooperation with Mastercard. Tourists are keenly opting for premium venues and increasingly venturing beyond the city centre.