The recent development of tourism in the Czech Republic

The situation changed dramatically after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Before then, in communist times, people had the right by law to travel abroad but it was limited, not politically but financially. You had the right to apply once in three years for hard currency. And once you received it you could apply for a visa to travel out of the Czech Republic. In theory everyone could travel abroad once in every three years, but in practice this was not the case for 80 or 90 per cent of the population. It was impossible for the majority.

And then, as soon as the barbed wire came down, here the situation was very similar to Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. People were free to travel. They no longer needed a visa. Everyone had to go abroad just to prove that it was true. So there were queues on the frontier. Everyone went out of the country in the morning and came back in the evening just to convince himself that he could. It was a great sense of freedom.

And then people began to want to travel out for more than one day. Before the revolution there were only two travel agencies: the state travel agency and the cooperative travel agency. Both had been state owned. All trips had been arranged as group travel, so you had to stay with your tour leader. At the present times there are 3.000 travel agencies. Perhaps economic changes and market forces will reduce this number but Czechs love to travel. The most popular way to travel is a coach trip because it’s the cheapest.

The number of inbound tourists also began to increase. Foreigners could always visit Prague, but with the cold war and the iron curtain people weren’t that interested. Now they are eager to see what they have been missing, and of course Prague is a beautiful city. It has monuments and buildings of almost every European period. The problem in the beginning was the lack of suitable accommodation. This was dealt with adapted and refurbished workers’ and student accommodation. Many international chains built new top class hotels. So, the Czech Republic has become a popular tourist destination.

Tourism in Ireland

Ireland is a beautiful country with ancient culture. Nowadays it is a popular tourist destination. However, nobody knows the beginning of tourism in Ireland. In 1845 there was a horse-drawn coach service operating round Ireland 4 000 miles a day. In the 19^th century all the visitors to Ireland came from Britain. The first package tour from America took place in 1895. the beginning of the 20^th century was favourable for the development of tourism and in 1920 the 1^st official tourism office was opened. During the Second World War in 1941 – 1945 the economy of Great Britain had food scarcity and American soldiers visited Ireland to eat better. After 1945 plentiful food supply in Ireland attracted more British visitors.

Over the last 30 years tourism industry in Ireland has really expanded. The government of the country has played a positive role helping tourism business in its development. Government policy has been especially directed on the promotion of special interest holidays, such as golfing, hiking, fishing. Besides, special purpose English language holidays have been growing quite steadily.

Ireland has become the 3^rd largest export earner as it employs 91 000 people. Nowadays Irish tourism appeals to younger generation, independent travelers, and to Irish Americans in search of their roots. The highlight of Ireland is its special attraction: the cultural holiday to Dublin, Blarney and Kilkenny. Most visitors are from the UK and they account 55%. Europeans also show interest to Irish culture, their number is 28.8 %. The average stay is 11.1 days for holidays and 10.4 days for VFR.

So, rich ancient culture, right government policy, creative and hard work of people in the tourist industry made Ireland the prosperous and attractive place on the Earth.