Visegrad  fund, Cross-border cooperation Project

The aim of the project ‘Services in tourism in the Czech-Polish border area’ is to identify changes in the offer of services in the field of tourism before and after the pandemic. The research will be carried out in the border region of the Jizera Mountains on both sides in the CZ and Poland. Teachers and students from both universities will take part in all activities, in cooperation with interest group of legal entities Turistický region Jizerské hory (TRHJ). The project will lead to mutual knowledge and exchange of experiences between students and teachers from both universities and representative of service providers THRJ.

The project focuses on the current situation in services in tourism, which is one of the most affected parts of the economy during the pandemic crisis. The project is geographically focused on the Czech-Polish border area. This is the Czech and Polish part of the Nisa Euroregion, specifically the Jizera Mountains and the Giant Mountains, which are the most attractive part of this locality for tourists.

According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, 109,000 people are employed in services in the Czech part of the Nisa Euroregion, 55,000 people in the Polish part and, for example, the number of beds in the Czech part is 49,700 and in the Polish part 28,552. However, these figures have changed during the pandemic and it is estimated that around 50% of employees have left the service sector. 7 million people visit the region every year. Of this, in 2020, about 300,000 guests were accommodated, who spent over 900,000 nights here (which is the level of 2015 and 2016), the decrease for 2020 was 30%. On average, guests spent 3 nights here in 2020, which is longer time than before the pandemic. A pandemic was declared in March 2020, which included government restrictions that significantly affected service providers. Service providers have responded to government restrictions by voluntarily or forcibly changing their service offerings to eliminate losses. The project focuses on the identification of these changes in the offer of services in the period before and after the pandemic. Should the pandemic continue for years to come, the project is designed to be implemented online.