Abstract
Prague has become a significant tourist destination in Europe over the past 25 years. This development has been rapid and unbalanced. This chapter will deal with the changing socio-spatial patterns of tourism in the historic centre of Prague, with a particular focus on the Royal Way. Based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods (such as in-depth interviews with local residents, an analysis of retail outlets on the Royal Way, and an analysis of secondary statistical data on tourism and economic development in Prague), the changing business activities in the historic centre of Prague and their impact on the local community and tourism itself will be analysed. The findings will show that privatisation, restitution, as well as the absence of tourism management have had a profound impact on tourism in Prague, and have contributed to the creation of a tourist ghetto on the Royal Way.
This article was supported by Charles University in Prague, project GA UK No. 814116.
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Notes
- 1.
Czechia (geographical name for the political entity, the Czech Republic) was established in 1993 as one of the successor states of former Czechoslovakia (The Czech and Slovak Federative Republic).
- 2.
“The aim of small privatisation was to sell small state-own businesses by mean of public auction into private hand.” (Sýkora 1994, p. 1156).
- 3.
Souvenirs and foods labelled as ‘Czech’ in many cases originate in other countries, such as Russia, and do not have a connection to Czech tradition (e.g. matryoshka).
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Dumbrovská, V. (2017). Urban Tourism Development in Prague: From Tourist Mecca to Tourist Ghetto. In: Bellini, N., Pasquinelli, C. (eds) Tourism in the City . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26877-4_19
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