Tuesday, November 17, 2015
The city of Prague is having an exceptionally successful year as a destination. The latest statistics demonstrate growing interest in the city in the leisure, business and MICE segments, with an ever-diversifying portfolio of source countries. Prague, one of the continent’s most beautiful and historic capitals, offers a quintessentially European experience of breathtaking architecture with a wide array of cultural offerings, a vibrant and diverse dining scene and trendy new neighbourhoods offering a contemporary contrast to the historic city centre.
Having been a popular destination since it emerged after the fall of Communism in 1989, Prague has broken its own prior arrival records in the third quarter of 2015, with double-digit growth in several markets and overall arrivals increase aproaching 10%. The strongest growth has been recorded in visits from Asia, notably from China, South Korea, and India, as well as from Turkey and Israel. Prague’s strongest source markets in 2015 are Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Prague’s popularity isn’t reflected just in arrival figures. According to the world’s largest travel portal, TripAdvisor, Prague has defended its position as TripAdvisor’s top-rated European destination for the second year in a row, placing fifth in the world. TripAdvisor’s unique ratings formula includes aspects such as historical and cultural heritage, along with a wide array of tourism services and activities.
Prague attracts more than leisure travellers – the numbers of conference and convention attendees flocking to the city are growing, as well. Prague is the Czech Republic’s most important congress destination, hosting up to 80% MICE events held in the country. Among MICE destinations, it has placed ninth in Europe and regularly scores among top MICE destinations in central and southeastern Europe.
Prague Convention Bureau, the city’s MICE marketing body, has been working hard to further Prague’s reputation in the MICE sector. In 2015, it has managed to achieve its five-year goal of making Prague one of the top ten world congress destinations. According to ICCA statistics, Prague became the world’s tenth most sough-after MICE destination in 2014. In other words, the city has moved up a whole nine spots since 2010, which is when Prague Convention Bureau started to collect MICE industry data. The next goal is placing among the world’s top five MICE destinations by 2020.
A major step in achieving this objective will be the prestigious 56th annual congress of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), to be held in Prague in 2017. Prague’s ambition is to host the most successful ICCA event in the region, with more than 1,000 participants from around the world.
Tags: MICE Tourism, Prague
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