City report
Prague – a quiet revolution
THIRTY YEARS ON FROM THE VELVET REVOLUTION, SIMON GEORGE VISITS PRAGUE
TO FIND A QUIET MICE REVOLUTION A WORK IN PROGRESS
rague Convention Bureau
(PCB) has been in existence
for around 15 years now
but its MD, Roman Muška,
says before that there was no real
awareness of the MICE industry in the
Czech Republic.
Some might say that, today, there is
still little awareness of the impact of the
MICE industry on the local economy.
Yet, after a three-day whistle-stop visit
to the Czech capital, comprising site
inspections of Prague Congress Centre,
two new event venues, a number of
renovated hotels targeting the business
market, I came away with the impression
that there is a new understanding to get
things done even if funding may be tight.
The PCB can certainly be proud of the
Event Management Course it organises
at Prague’s University of Economics,
which is now in its fourth year.
Cause for optimism
Economically the Czech Republic is
doing well and outperforming the
eurozone, with strong domestic-led
growth and near full employment.
Ease of doing business in the Czech
Republic has seen a marked improvement
in recent years and corporate business is
increasing. Against this background,
major new venues in Prague include O2
universum and Cubex, while renovations
have been undertaken at Prague
“Ease of doing
business in the
Czech Republic
has seen a marked
improvement.”
Congress Centre, which is planning to
build extra exhibition halls by 2023.
Meanwhile, hotels like Vienna House
Diplomat, Orea Hotel Pyramida and
Radisson Blu have all been refurbishing.
Prague’s successful hosting of the 56th
ICCA Congress in 2017 brought
conference kudos and the Czech capital is
up to ninth in the latest ICCA city
rankings. Figures from the Czech
Statistical Office (CZSO) for 2018 saw
the Czech capital host a record number
of events (4,534), 3% up on 2017.
Key challenges
It is worth adding a few caveats, however.
There are strategic issues that need
watching, such as the lack of awareness
of the need to support the MICE
industry at a national level, and the
threat of overtourism.
The city authorities would like to
reduce the number of one-day visitors
and encourage longer stays, including
conference delegates. A night Mayor has
been appointed and there has been an
educational campaign to stem the
numbers of drunken tourists.
MICE expert from Palacky University
of Olomouc, Miroslav Ronczak, tells
CMW: “Prague would like to reduce the
number of one-day visitors, encourage
longer stays and attract MICE but there
is no clear vision how to do it, although a
new strategy for tourism development
could be approved this year.”
Ronczak warns the Czech Tourist
Authority could be set to get less money
from the Ministry of Regional
Development for tourism promotion.
“There is one proposal to put all national
agencies - CzechInvest, CzechTrade and
CzechTourism - under one roof.”
Of course, we can’t forget there is stiff
competition for MICE business in
Central Europe. Vienna has three
convention centres to Prague’s one, and
has more airports. The city is also a lot
more experienced in the MICE business.
Ronczak notes that the Prague CVB
statistics for 2018 pointed to 41
congresses taking place with more than
1,000 delegates, while 74% of all
conferences had between 10 and 149
delegates. Main conference topics, he
says, are medicine, education and the
social sciences and industry and key
foreign markets for delegates are the
USA, UK and Germany.
Examples of venue infrastructure
development include Cubex, which
opened in 2018 and can host 1,700
delegates. High-tech with ‘plug and play’
functionality, the venue promotes itself as
a blank canvas on which companies can
‘imprint’ their products. As Sales
Director Vít Gilánik explains: “We have
an identity that I think none of the other
venues can provide. The idea is that you
can come here and you can do anything
you want with the space.”
O2 universum, which opened in
September 2019, is interconnected with
the 17,000-seater O2 arena and is a
multifunctional venue that can host up to
5,000 people for a range of events.
Above: The Charles
Bridge in Prague
could see more
delegates among
its many tourists
Above (top):
Congress Hall and
(below) Cubex
ISSUE 104
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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