The Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) has released new data on the number of visitors to accommodation facilities over the summer tourist season, showing that South Moravia was again the second most visited Czech region after Prague. The region saw 830,000 visitors over the summer, a third of whom were foreign tourists. Year-on-year, there has been a significant increase in tourists from the USA, Ukraine, and Asian countries, as well as from Italy and Poland.
Those travelling to South Moravia from July to September spent a total of 1.8 million overnight stays in accommodation facilities, and an average of 3.2 days in South Moravia. Overall, according to CZSO, 5% fewer visitors came to South Moravia in the summer months compared to the same period last year.
In addition, this year the South Moravian Tourism Centre gathered unique data on the spatial movements of selected groups of visitors around the region. “Last year, we analysed the general data of mobile operators, where the standard assumption was that the total number of visitors to our region is roughly four times higher than shown by the statistics from accommodation facilities,” said Martina Grůzová, director of the South Moravian Tourism Centre. “We have therefore decided not to monitor this data any further, and prefer to focus on the behaviour of visitors: how they spend their time in South Moravia, what their routes are, and where they come to us from.”
The source of this new data is information from mobile operators, applied to the total population. The most significant group in the data are residents of Prague and its surroundings, who made up 1/3 of all tourists in South Moravia. About one quarter were Slovak, and more than one sixth came from Ostrava. Other significant tourist groups were Poles, and visitors from Hradec Kravlove and Pardubice. Germans made up only 5% and Austrians 3.5% of visitors to the region.
The data confirmed that the most popular destinations over the summer season were the traditional holiday spots: Brno, Mikulov, Znojmo, Lednice-Valtice, Pasohlávky, Věstonicko, Modré Hory and Vranov.
Two-thirds of visitors remain in the place they stay overnight, and do not go on longer trips, which also corresponds to the relatively high share of visitors (59%) who stay only one night. Slovak tourists are the most likely to go on longer day trips, while Polish visitors move around the least.
According to Martin Šauer from the Department of Regional Economics at Masaryk University, who has been studying this data for a long time, the top destinations for day-trips are the wine-growing areas: Velké Bílovice, Zaječí, Věstonicko, and Strážnice, followed by important tourist destinations such as Vranov nad Dyjí, the White Carpathians, and the Brno Dam.
The movements of those visitors who were monitored show a strong integration of established routes within individual tourist areas, i.e. from Brno to Rozdrojovice, from Pasohlávky to Věstonicko, from Mikulov to Věstonicko, within the Lednice-Valtice area, from Lednice to Modry Hory, and so on. There were also very strong ties observed between Pálava and the Lednice-Valtice area. Šauer said that half of all day excursions take place to just the top 15 destinations.
This year, the South Moravian Tourism Centre launched MojaKarta, an application that offers benefits when staying in partner facilities for at least two nights. The aim of the app is to increase the proportion of visitors who spend a longer time in South Moravia and promote local attractions. This year’s pilot operation primarily targeted visitors from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Card usage data up to now shows that MojaKarta was most often accessed by people from North Moravia, Vysočina and South Moravia, while South and West Bohemia, as well as Slovakia, were also significantly represented.
“In the first half of the season, MojaKarta holders were more attracted to experiential tourist destinations such as Kinderwelt and Terra Technica in Haty, or the Lavender Farm,” explained Halka Horká from the South Moravian Tourism Center. “Since August, the cards have been used in traditional institutions, such as the Castle Fortification in Znojmo. With the beginning of autumn, people return to experiences like Aqualand Moravia. On average, a tourist saved CZK 122 per visit to one attraction, or roughly CZK 500 for a group of four.”
By the beginning of November, 2,653 people had registered the card. Those who activated their cards spent an average of four nights in South Moravia, most often 2 adults and 1 child, with an average age of 45 and 10 years respectively.
“We are noticing that people are already starting to plan their holidays and trips for the next period,” added Horká. “Because after the slowdown in registrations in September and October, the average daily and monthly numbers of MojaKarta are picking up again, and since the beginning of November alone, almost a hundred new holders have registered, similar numbers to when the card was launched in April.”
