UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 25, 2011.
‘The demand for tours to the Czech Republic keeps going up, the flights from Yekaterinburg to Prague are operated on a daily basis, and an additional direct flight to Carlsbad has been introduced this year. This is likely to remain the case for the next two years as well, despite the growing prices. The thing is, there is just no alternative to the Czech Republic as far as some kinds of holiday-making are concerned. For example, plenty of tourists come to Carlsbad to stay at some health farm, as this place offers the perfect value for the money. Our Russian health resorts do try to improve on their service, but are still below the Czech standards. This alone means that people will keep on going to the Czech Republic,’ says the director of Zima-Leto Group Olga Gulyar.

Now the Czech Government intends to raise the VAT from 10% to 14% in 2012 and to 17.5% in 2013; in fact, the tax might rise to as much as 19% after all. As a result, the Czech hoteliers will have to raise their prices by at least 10%, which, experts believe, is bound to make the trip packages more expensive.

‘There is nothing extraordinary about all this. Some hot countries, like Turkey, for example, raise their prices every year; some other countries, including those in Europe, might have to do the same at one point or another. The Czech Republic is one of the most popular destinations as far as the tourists from the Urals go, so the travelers inflow is not likely to slump due to a price increase,’ Gulyar added.