CzechTourism is an organisation receiving contributions from the State Budget, founded by the Czech Ministry of Regional Development, and pursuing its activities in compliance with the founder’s objectives, founder’s deed and the valid statute. The main objective of CzechTourism is promotion of the Czech Republic as a tourist destination in the Czech Republic and abroad. To pursue this objective, CzechTourism in coordinated efforts with the MRD performs the following main tasks: it coordinates activities in tourism, develops and coordinates destination marketing, represents the Czech Republic in the international world of tourism, provides information on tourism, engages in research and educational activities, promotes the CzechTourism and Czech Republic brands globally. In 2013, CzechTourism celebrated its 20th anniversary. Estimates suggest that in 2013 the Czech Republic was visited by as many as 21 million foreign tourists. The largest number ever recorded – 7.3 million of them – were accommodated in hotels or guest houses. The CzechTourism website attracted over 1 million viewers, the “Czech Republic – the Land of Stories” campaign focusing on inbound tourism generated 829.7 million of hits and the estimated benefit for the Czech economy exceeded CZK 107 million. An online campaign focusing on domestic tourism generated over 55 million hits and attracted over 4.5 million of unique users per month. The www.czechtourism.com and www.kudyznudy.cz portals had the highest visitor rates ever and underwent extensive technological changes for both the users and tourism destination operators. In 2013, www.kudyznudy.cz had the highest visitor rate – 7.2 million with over 4 million unique visitors. In the main tourism season, the website has over 1 million hits per month. CzechTourism Foreign Offices In 2013, CzechTourism ran a total of 21 foreign offices worldwide, of which 18 were categorised as first-class (CzechTourism offices) and three as second-class offices (representation by a PR agency). The primary goal of CzechTourism’s foreign offices across the globe is to promote the Czech Republic as an ideal tourist destination, to raise awareness of the destination brand and to stimulate numbers of inbound visitors. Foreign offices’ operations are monitored and assessed. The monitored parameters include not only quantitative, but primarily qualitative indicators, i.e. the efficiency of their activity is monitored. A system of metrics has been developed for this purpose. The foreign offices organised dozens of press trips for foreign journalists, as well as fam trips for major tour operators (AITO, Jetair, Mexican pools). Marketing campaigns used all marketing tools; the Czech Republic presented itself at important events and fairs (Czech That Film festival in the U.S., Expotravel in Yekaterinburg, TTG Incontri in Rimini, ITB in Singapore, etc.). Marketing Communication in 2013 As concerns marketing communication in 2013, the agency focused on activities connected with the national products: learning trips (cultural product): Prague, towns with stories; trips through landscape (active product): summer trips, winter trips; and health trips (spa products): Czech spa, medicine tourism. 2013 campaigns pick up the threads of the Czech Republic – the Land of Stories brand position as defined by the marketing strategy. This is where the communication on Czech tourism destinations starts – they are attractive sites surrounded by interesting stories that can be revealed, discovered and experienced by every visitor. In 2013, CzechTourism launched a marketing campaign to support inbound tourism. This campaign introduced Czechia as a country of stories with a new visual style. The first part of the integrated marketing campaign (between April and October) focused primarily on the principal and near markets. The campaign reacted to inadequate presentation of the Czech Republic on foreign markets, and to unwanted associations related to it. The main communication objective was a change in perception of the destination: from the image of an indistinct country somewhere in the Eastern block to an exclusive destination attractive for wealthier clientele. A marketing campaign supporting domestic tourism took place from September to December 2013. The primary goal of the campaign was to restore confidence in the Czech Republic and its regions that were presented as attractive destinations (at least for a weekend) offering a range of quality services. The follow-up goal was to raise awareness about less-known regional destinations with a quality product which could be put on the list of destinations worth visiting. At the end of the year the above campaigns were complemented by a product campaign focusing on domestic and border markets. Its goal was to raise awareness about quality products offered across Czech tourist regions. B2B information campaign directed at operators in tourism took place throughout the year and included printed advertisements, regularly issued e-bulletin and publication of the information brochure “CzechTourism – Your Partner in Tourism”. The brochure was distributed at events for the expert public. Projects of the Integrated Operational Programme CzechTourism implemented 13 projects of the Integrated Operational Programme focusing on marketing activities, B2B activities, monitoring of domestic and inbound tourism, and market segmentation of major strategic countries. Some projects focused on a specific tourism product, e.g. gastronomy, film tourism, or young travellers (these three projects were launched in 2013). Promotion In 2013, the Publishing Department issued 20 titles of promotional materials in 13 languages with a circulation of 1,480,200. At the same time, CzechTourism continued to publish in co-operation with its partners. Therefore, some titles were prepared in co-operation with regional management, destination management and other partners. Selected publications were in multiple languages – e.g. the catalogue of accommodation establishments in the Czech Republic produced in co-operation with the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, and the catalogue of camping sites in the Czech Republic produced in co-operation with the Czech Camping Association. In 2013, CzechTourism organised the official participation of the Czech Republic at 18 tourism trade fairs for end consumers and business clientele, where it presented the official exhibition of the Czech Republic. In 2013, CzechTourism participated in several product trade fairs using a shell scheme (a stand arranged directly on the spot), including four MICE expos and two golfing trade fairs; some space was devoted to spa presentations as well. The PR department held in 2013 a total of 61 events for foreign experts. In compliance with its marketing plan, the agency organised seven collective thematic press and fam trips. In addition to major topics, press/fam trips communicated for example architecture, Jewish monuments, gay tourism, golf holidays, luxury holidays, design or spas. CzechTourism activities in 2013 also included support of regional events. Their purpose was to attract Czech tourists to domestic holidays. In 2013, CzechTourism supported more than 50 regional events, festivals or sporting events. Regional events with an international effect included for example: Barum Rally Zlín, the International Music Festival in Český Krumlov, Prague Pride, Run Czech (Prague International Marathon), Jizerská 50 and other races of the SkiTour series, the Biathlon World Championship in Nové Město na Moravě, Ice Wine du Monde, the Festival of Light – Signal, the Art Design Festival in Mikulov, Designblok, the Under-19 World Championship, the European Championships of women’s and men’s teams (Czech Basketball Federation). Social events focusing on domestic and inbound tourism included for instance the following events: Tourfilm and Tour Region Film in Karlovy Vary, Tourmap, Arts and Film in Telč, the International Festival of Outdoor Films, the International Exhibition of Glass and Jewellery – Fragile Beauty – in Jablonec nad Nisou. CzechTourism has become a key partner of tourist regions, municipalities, professional associations and other organisations, such as Prague Airport, Czech Airlines, Pilsner Urquell, Student Agency, or the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ). Regional Co-operation In 2013, communication with the regions continued to exist based on long-term co-operation with regional coordinators. The regional coordinators are the main partners of CzechTourism in tourist regions and they share all information with destination management and other tourism authorities in the given region. Apart from regular meetings in the regions, CzechTourism organised two regional coordinators’ meetings where the regional coordinators could meet the Agency’s representatives and some directors of CzechTourism foreign offices. In addition to other projects, there was an important series of seven regional press and fam trips held for Czech journalists and tour operators, and traditional seminars for tourism experts. At the beginning of this year, within the framework of these seminars, 17 tourist regions presented their current offer in the Jalta hotel, Prague, to the participating travel agencies and tour operators. Tourist Information Centres CzechTourism in co-operation with the Association of Tourist Information Centres of the Czech Republic initiated unification of the TIC certification process in the Czech Republic including a uniform classification of tourist information centres in the Czech Republic. The new TIC certification has been in place since 30 April, 2013. EDEN Project EDEN (European Destinations of Excellence) is a project by the European Commission whose main objective is support of sustainable tourism in the EU Member States. Accessible Tourism was chosen as the 2013 year’s theme. Destinations were sought which strive to eliminate barriers in tourism and make tourist attractions accessible to the disabled, elderly persons, families with children, as well as other tourists with specific needs. The contest was won by the Lipno Region. Czech Convention Bureau The mission of the Czech Convention Bureau is to promote the Czech Republic at home and abroad as an ideal destination for conference and incentive tourism. The Czech Convention Bureau closely co-operates with regional bureaus, coordinates the activity of the regions thus contributing to maximum utilisation of the congress potential offered by the Czech Republic. The Czech Convention Bureau is an open institution. In 2013 the Czech Convention Bureau project was joined by two regions, the Vysočina and the Olomouc regions. The Czech Convention Bureau organised four workshops and one road show in 2013. The events focused on congress and incentive tourism and took place in Germany (Hamburg), Mexico (Mexico City), the U.S. and Canada (Dallas, Washington, Toronto, and Chicago). There were workshops held in the Czech Republic (Prague) and in Slovakia (Bratislava) within the Marketing Support for MICE Services in the Czech Republic project under the Integrated Operational Programme. The events focused on the MICE segment. The purpose of the events was to introduce the MICE offer of the Czech Republic on the key target markets. CzechTourism presented the MICE offer of the Czech Republic also in Frankfurt am Main at the IMEX trade fair (21/05-23/05/2013) specialising in congress tourism, and at the EIBTM trade fair (01/11–21/11/2013) in Barcelona. In 2013, CzechTourism – Czech Convention Bureau (co-)organised nine press and fam trips in order to promote the meeting industry options at the domestic market. In 2013, CzechTourism – Czech Convention Bureau published a new congress catalogue which has 188 pages and introduces Czech congress and conference capacities. The catalogue contains contact details of MICE event organisers, catering companies, conference technology providers and other entities. Within the framework of the Candidacy Campaigns project, CzechTourism actively contributed to or supported about 38 candidacy campaigns in order to win congresses for the Czech Republic. Owing to the Candidacy Campaigns project, the Czech Convention Bureau has become one of the key partners of local professional congress organisers and destination management companies. CzechTourism actively supports them in winning as many congresses for the Czech Republic as possible. The Institute of Tourism of the Czech Republic In January 2013 a new division of CzechTourism was founded – the Institute of Tourism of the Czech Republic. The Institute’s mission is to provide intelligence, analytical and information services to the remaining organisational units of the Agency, including the expert and general public. It also provides regular information about the existing status and expected developments on the Czech tourism market, regular information about the existing status and expected developments on the international tourism market, applies acquired knowledge in practice through co-operation with the public and private sectors, thus contributing to development and achieving of long-term competitiveness of the Czech Republic in tourism. The core activities of the Institute of Tourism include processing of current data from inbound, domestic and outbound tourism, monitoring of development trends in the source markets. The Institute makes a chart of the most popular tourist destinations, predicts the development of inbound tourism, monitors the payment balance of tourism in the Czech Republic, and updates the country reports enclosed to the 2013–2020 Marketing Concept. The Institute of Tourism processes information about target groups and segments, co-operates with universities, provides a space for discussion over recent topics within the framework of its activities including the Forum of Tourism which took place on 14–15 October, 2013 in Dolní oblast Vítkovice – Ostrava.