Through the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Regional Development CR, the Czech Republic is an active member in major international organisations and bodies promoting co-operation in tourism. These serve to exchange and share experience with other member states, obtained from addressing current challenges and issues in tourism as well as implementing tourism policies. UNWTO – World Tourism Organisation The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) is an international intergovernmental organisation established in 1974. The WTO’s Statutes came into force in 1975 upon their ratification by the member states. The key role of the organisation is promotion of tourism as a driver of economic growth, international understanding, peace, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Its current membership consists of 156 member countries and over 400 affiliate members representing the private sector. In 2003, the Organisation was transformed into a specialised UN agency. For the Czech Republic, the UNWTO is the leading international organisation in the field of global tourism. Co-operation between CR and UNWTO is crucial for enhancing international collaboration, involvement in educational schemes, initiatives, acquisition of specialised know-how and information to be applied in Czech conditions, access to analytical studies, statistical comparisons, forecasts, and trends in global tourism development, marketing studies, and other specialized documents developed by UNWTO. For more information go to www.unwto.org The Czech Republic presents its statistical data on tourism primarily through UNWTO statistical publications, e.g. the World Tourism Barometer (monitoring the mid-term evolution of tourism and its trends) A major event in 2013 was the 20th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly taking place in Africa, attended by the Czech delegation. Key topics on the agenda included the review of the state of global tourism and its trends, further development of the Organisation, election of new members of the Executive Council and other UNWTO bodies, election of new vice-chairmen of the Regional Commissions, approval of the new programme and budget of the Organisation for 2014–2015, appointment of the new Secretary-General for the period 2014–2017, admission of new members. The debates among the member states focused on connectivity, collaboration between tourism and air transport policies; visa facilitation as a tool to promote tourism growth, socio-economic development, and job creation. UNWTO has defined connectivity as one of its policy priorities alongside visa facilitation and fair taxation, and is working with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on these issues as well as those related to addressing climate change or modernisation of aviation regulations. OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) is a prestigious economic organisation associating economically most advanced countries of the world. It is headquartered in Paris, France. The Czech Republic became its member already in 1995 and since that time representatives of the Tourism Department have been participating in regular meetings of the Tourism Committee. The Tourism Committee focuses mainly on sharing experience in drafting national policies, concepts and strategic documents on tourism; it contributes to making analyses of macroeconomic effects by supporting development of the Tourism Satellite Account, and significantly contributes to the recognition of tourism as a strong industry at the international level. It also initiates or participates in a wide range of projects linked with tourism or tourism statistics. Main priorities of the Tourism Committee are defined biannually in the Programme of Work and the Budget. Currently, the 2013–2014 Programme applies and the main priorities of the Committee for this period include: Evaluation of tourism policies for growth; Monitoring of tourism trends and policies; Supporting new jobs in tourism; Measuring tourism impacts at sub-national level; Reviewing policies and good practices in tourism taxation; Reviewing tourism policies at national and local levels; Thematic reviews of tourism issues. In 2013 there were two important meetings held and several important projects based on the Committee’s main priorities were launched in which the Czech Republic took an active part. The meetings were held on 8-10 April, 2013 and 1-2 October, 2013 at the OECD headquarters in Paris. The Czech Republic participated mainly in activities aiming to improve the quality of evaluating and measuring competitiveness in tourism, namely a project focusing on tourism indicators, and also in visa policy activity. A new OECD Tourism Trend and Policies report is under preparation. This year was also a year of intensive preparation for the organisation of the Global Forum on Tourism Statistics which will take place in Prague, Czech Republic in 2014. The Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic annually contributes to the Committee’s activities by EUR 10,000 and 2013 was no exception. Information about the Tourism Committee: www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism European Commission – Tourism Advisory Committee During its regular meetings in 2013 the Tourism Advisory Committee discussed the current state of activities and initiatives within the framework of the implementation plan for tourism announced by the Commission and also new EU tourism initiatives were announced. Activities during the Irish and Lithuanian presidency, current statistical data and Eurostat surveys, and current status of legislative proposals related to tourism submitted by the Commission were presented during the meetings. For more information go to http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/index_en.htm Key tourism activities at the EU level in 2013: EDEN 2013/2014 A prestigious competition – European Destination of Excellence – is organised by the European Commission. The theme for 2013/2014 was accessible tourism and the destination of Lipno became the winner of the 4th year of the competition. It was especially great honour for the Lipno region as it is the fourth destination in the Czech Republic receiving the European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) award. This special award also meant appreciation of long-term efforts of all stakeholders at the destination of Lipno related to development of sustainable tourism with a focus on consistent improvement of services offered in the area during the whole year. Tourists were offered an attractive new facility – a treetop walkway which is accessible also by the disabled. Visa issues – maximising the potential of the EU visa policy for tourism development On 7 November, 2012 the Commission issued a communication on the implementation and development of the common visa policy to spur growth in the EU. The communication highlights the need to consider the economic impact of visa policy on the EU economy, specifically on tourism. The Commission had a study made on impact of short-term visa facilitation on the EU tourism and the economy of EU Member States comprising the Schengen area. The conclusions of the study were taken into account when reviewing the EU Visa Code. Tourism for seniors Within its calls and activities the Commission strives to join efforts and involve public institutions in tourism and organisations for seniors and tourism businesses at national and regional levels in the public private initiative called Europe, the Best Destination for Seniors. This initiative promotes off-season travelling of seniors from third countries to Europe and within Europe. Sustainable cross-border thematic tourism products EuroVelo 13 – Iron Curtain Trail, cultural trails in the Middle and Lower Danube region. Activities of municipalities, towns and microregions in expanding the network of marked public bike trails and routes continued in several tourism destinations. A new trail along the Ploučnice river was built from the confluent with Elbe towards the Lužické mountains, offering a range of attractive destinations for tourists. Further new public bike trails were opened, for example Hradec Králové - Kuks and a trail for families with children in the Benešov region – In the Footsteps of the Blaník Knights. The quality of services provided by accommodation facilities and restaurants certified by the Partnership Foundation – Cyclists Welcome (www.cyklistevitani.cz) improved along long-haul European bike trails in the Czech Republic within the EuroVelo system. Communication campaign to promote Europe in international markets Aiming at promoting Europe as a tourism destination in third country markets, the Commission launched a communication campaign aiming at encouraging tourists to travel to Europe. Activities proposed within this campaign were to raise awareness of Europe as a tourism destination pointing out its diverse and rich offer. The campaign ran till December 2013 and focused on six international markets – Brazil, Russia, India, China, Argentina and Chile. Virtual Tourism Observatory The European Commission is preparing a website consisting of three main parts: profiles of individual countries, a set of statistical indicators, analyses and reports monitoring the current development in tourism (Eurobarometer), as well as links to websites of other organisations providing important data. V4 – Visegrad Four Activities of the V4 countries in tourism lead to more intensive promotion of all four countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) in tourism and increased inbound tourism to the countries. The Czech Republic therefore considers the Visegrad group to be of key importance in developing regional co-operation in Central Europe and in promoting common interests also at the EU level. In 2013 V4 entered the 10th jubilee year of mutual co-operation. For more information go to http://www.european-quartet.com/ In 2013, the meetings concerned mainly determination of promotion activities, modification of the European Quartet logo and optimisation of the website. It was proposed to implement campaigns using social media at V4 target markets. Joint activities focused mainly on Japan, China, USA, Russia, India and Brazil. During the marketing meeting new target markets were suggested – Australia and the Gulf Co-operation Council region (GCC – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman), and market analyses of these countries were made in 2013 for the purposes of V4. Funding of joint activities was extended. Also, a proposal for co-operation between the V4 countries and China and joint promotion within the Carpathian Convention was made. Participation in international activities (agreements, working groups, fairs, conferences and seminars) International Agreements in Tourism Based on the Government Directive adopted by Government Resolution No. 131 of 11 February, 2004, the Tourism Department is responsible for organisation and preparation of all requisites prior to signing international agreements, as well as for factual performance of such documents related to tourism. Agreements are concluded in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are registered in the Collections of International Agreements. The Tourism Department has over 40 international agreements related to tourism in its records. Recently, agreements have been signed with Chile, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Morocco; an agreement with Uzbekistan was under preparation but it has not been signed, there are also agreements under preparation with Malaysia, Albania, Vietnam – see the map of the world showing countries with agreements on co-operation in tourism signed. Based on these already concluded international agreements, working groups were established for key partners (with growing interest in inbound tourism to the Czech Republic) whose regular meetings in both countries are hosted by the Tourism Department (Croatia, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Morocco, etc.). Most of the meetings are organised with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs diplomatic missions. Intergovernmental Commissions The purpose of intergovernmental commissions is to improve diplomatic conditions at the Government level as well as business conditions within the support of export as tourism is considered to be an important economic indicator. Commissions are established based on agreements on economic, industrial, scientific and technical co-operation between ministries and respective countries and operate at the level of Ministers or Deputy Ministers. The Tourism Department regularly attends and works on behalf of the MRD at intergovernmental commissions at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. They concern mainly co-operation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Asia (China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, etc.), America (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, etc.), and Europe (Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, etc.). ADS Memorandum On 22 December, 2004, the Czech Government adopted Resolution No. 1311 on implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNTA) and the European Community, on visa and related issues concerning tourist groups from the People’s Republic of China. Implementation of the Memorandum allows listed tour operators to organise travels of Chinese tour groups to Europe within the Approved Destination Status (ADS) mode. The ADS treaty is binding on new EU Member States starting from their EU accession (since 1 May, 2004 for the Czech Republic). The Ministry of Regional Development concludes agreements on fulfilment of obligations arising from the ADS memorandum with private entities, travel bureaus and agencies. The agreement is binding on the entities and they have to comply with the set terms and conditions (supervision of the tourist group and compliance with the conditions of the Schengen Treaty within the EU). The Ministry of Regional Development publishes an updated list of such entities – a total of 135 travel agencies and bureaus in 2013. Tourist Visas The Ministry of Regional Development is not qualified to issue short-term/tourist visas and accreditations; however, it supports all changes leading to simplification of short-term visa issuance which generates satisfied traveller. Based on a Government resolution of 2010 an interdepartmental working group (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, and Ministry of Regional Development) was established in order to improve the situation in tourist visas. The objective of the group and its activities is to point out and resolve problem issues related to issuance of tourist visas and issuance of accreditations. The Ministry of Regional Development currently sees overall improvement in the tourist visa situation, most issues are resolved also thanks to the interdepartmental working group. International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Through the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing (UNMZ) and the Technical Standardisation Centre the Tourism Department participated in activities of ISO/TC 228 Tourism and related services within the framework of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The objective of this technical committee is to support technical standardisation of tourism at the international level resulting in creation of selected technical standards. Activities of the Tourism Department consist of close co-operation with UNMZ, the Technical Standardisation Centre, ISO/TC 228 and wide expert public in the field of tourism.