We Intend to Provide Positive Support to Tourism in the Region

STYL We Intend to Provide Positive Support to Tourism in the Region Jan Krkoška, Deputy Governor of the Regional Development and Tourism, has worked in tourism for most of his professional career. Even though he comes from Krnov, he supports tourism in the Jeseník Mountains as well as the Beskids. He promotes tourism as an increasingly significant sphere of economic potential and regional development. Mr Krkoška, we prepared our interview at the end of February, however, a lot has changed since. Let me ask you how the current situation will affect tourism in the Moravian-Silesian Region? It is too early to predict the impact the Covid-19 pandemic will have on tourism in the Moravian-Silesian Region. What we know already is that each and every measure imposed by the government has a huge impact on the current economy. All restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions and destinations, relaxation and wellness centres have closed down, therefore I am absolutely sure the statistics of tourism in the region in the first quarter will be very low. After a few years showing increasing numbers of visitors to our region, there will be a considerable drop this year. However, I believe that the impact of the present situation will not be as serious as if the restrictions had come during the main tourist season. There are opinions that borders will remain closed for months if not years. What do you think of that? I am very sorry for these measures as a citizen. On the other hand, these kinds of restrictions may improve national travel within the Czech Republic. It will greatly support local businesses who operate or whose operation is related to tourism in the Moravian-Silesian Region, too. I can only pray for record numbers of visitors so that their loss is minimized. Text: redakce Foto: archiv MSK www.MSK.cz severnimorava.travel The Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic is planning so-called holiday vouchers for employees and self-employers as job or contract benefits for their holiday stays in the Czech Republic. Will the Moravian-Silesian Region participate in such an initiative? I have already heard of this support by the Ministry of Regional Development, and I am very happy that the ministry is preparing serious support for Czech tourism. A system of vouchers has already been introduced in Poland and Slovakia, so I am glad that the Czech Republic 66 ǀ POSITIV 1/2020 will follow. We introduced a similar principle last year through the project of senior travel, and supported trips to almost 3,000 seniors who went to see the attractions of our region. Each tourist’s trip was subsidized so that they paid only CZK 200. If the situation is favourable, we want to keep this project going in 2020 as well because there are obvious benefits to the seniors and to providers and operators of the attractions and related services. The government of the region also supports tourism through subsidy schemes and individual subsidies. In 2020, we will support the development of technical sights, tourist info centres, agrotourism, spa resorts, cycling tourism, and construction of motorhome stopovers. Nowadays we are finishing the preparation of further support to local enterprises. Surveys have shown that the measures applied to protect the population against coronavirus will hit small business hardest, especially those in services which also employ the greatest number of people. That is where our support must be focused. Mr Krkoška, what is your estimate of the summer season? Much depends on how the current situation will influence our thinking. Even though I expect each and every person will carefully consider all our spending, I am still optimistic when it comes to free time and leisure. People will undoubtedly want to make up for weeks of isolation, and their passion for travel will grow. The limitations to traditional foreign summer holiday destinations may be a huge incentive for tourism within our country. I believe that the impact of the pandemic on tourism will not be as serious as in countries directly dependent on tourism, and I also hope that in August, without any restriction, we will meet at the tenth annual “How Does the MoravianSilesian Region Taste?” (“Jak šmakuje Moravskoslezsko”) gastrofestival in Karlova Studánka. Thank you for the interview. -editorial-