We’re already over a third of our way through our trip, and I’m still constantly in awe of this city. There’s so much here, not just to see or do, but to experience. Prague does such a great job of marketing their home to tourists, highlighting their historic architecture and old-world charm, as well as modern aspects like their bustling nightlife. Prague is a city that greatly values their food, ranging from traditional dishes that have resurfaced from Czechoslovakia’s communist era, to the intermingling of other cultures in their cuisine, taking the foodie experience to a whole new level. Prague also reflects the importance of tourism in their culture and economy through the quality of their hotels and temporary-stay locations. The tour we took of the Augustine: a Luxury Collection by Marriott hotel proved just that. Marriott figured out how to perfectly encapsulate the charm and historic quality of the Augustinian monastery (which is still occupied by monks to this day), and transform it into a hotel that meets their highest standards. Even keeping the original brewery and incorporating it into the hotel showed just how important the historical factor was in the creation of the hotel. The walking tour we took gave us another glimpse into how important the city’s architecture and history is to its tourism industry, as there were countless other groups also taking similar tours, stopping to highlight important buildings like we were.
We got the chance to visit the Czechia Tourism Marketing Organization and learned a good deal about exactly how they market each of their regions to tourists. For example, Pilsen is quite understandably marketed toward beer-drinkers, offering tours of Pilsner Urquell, one of the most historically unique breweries in the world. Pilsner Urquell is a staple of Czech culture, as drinking itself is quite integral in their culture, and Pilsner beer has played a massive role in Czech pride and history. The Tourism Authority gave us some insight into their marketing strategies, as well, including how they develop their marketing campaigns as well as where they target these campaigns. Their current campaign is an “Unexpected Wellbeing” campaign, highlighting different themes of nature and creating spins on common tourist activities, marketing them as things you wouldn’t originally perceive the activity to be. They also showed us exactly how and where they aim this marketing strategy, pushing it to large cities in all different corners of the world. CzechTourism marketing reaches countries in places like South America, the United States, and even parts of Asia.
Overall, the Czech Republic clearly takes pride in how they present themselves on the world stage, specifically in the area of tourism, in which they do a remarkable job. They market their beloved country so strategically to different parts of the world, taking into account the interests and values of exactly where they’re aiming their advertisements. Clearly the Czech Republic cares deeply about each individual visitor’s experience, as is reflected in the time and care they put into making everyone’s experience in Czechia unique and enjoyable.