Related articles
Business NewsCzechTourism agency predicts record number of visting Britons, Russians and even 'dollar tourists' in 2005
The state-run tourist authority predicts that the number of foreigners
visiting the Czech Republic will jump another 10 percent this year, on top
of the 15 percent rise noted in 2003, the first year after the
"hundred-year" floods that swept through Central Europe and
nearly dealt a knock-out blow to the industry. More
MailboxMailbox
In this edition of Mailbox: The Kladruby Stud, new broadcast on fm
frequency, Holiday World. Listeners quoted: Henry Taylor, Robert Kubik.
More
Business NewsBusiness News
Coalition parties at odds over another tax hike. The railway trade unions
are planning a strike in protest at mass redundancies. Stock brokers from
the European Union are becoming interested in membership of the Prague
Stock Exchange. Czech truck production decreased in 2003. The tractor
maker Zetor is on the verge of bankruptcy. OKD mulls acquisition of Polish
competitors. Czech travel agents report record sales for 2003. Number of
importers from China may go out of business for failing to apply in time
for a licence. Russian industrial group interested in subsidiaries of
Czech engineering firm Skoda Holding.
More
Letter from Prague"Farewell" vacation
This summer, for the first time in my life, I bought myself a holiday
package from a Czech travel agency and although it was one of my best
holiday experiences, I will most probably never choose to go on vacation
through a travel agency in this country ever again. Every summer, we hear
in the news that Czechs where left stranded at their holiday destinations,
or never even made it to these places because smaller travel agencies had
gone bankrupt and were forced to close down. To be honest, I never had any
sympathy for the affected travellers because they shouldn't have chosen to
trust the small agencies in the first place. But when news broke that
former senator and businessman Vaclav Fischer, the owner of the country's
biggest travel agency, was in financial trouble and was looking for
investors to save his businesses, I got worried. A Czech can't even go on
holiday these days without having to fear that something will go wrong!
More
Press ReviewPress Review
A variety of stories make the Czech dailies today including everything from
Tomas Klvana's decision to leave his post as presidential spokesman to US
President George Bush's alleged disinterest in meeting Czech President
Vaclav Klaus. Featured in cover photos are a troubled Tony Blair -
fighting for his political future in Mlada Fronta Dnes, and the very last
Volkswagen Beetle - number 21, 529, 464. It rolls out in Lidove Noviny.
More
Current AffairsCzech holidaymakers left stranded by travel agency once again
The summer holidays turned sour for 300 Czechs who arrived in Croatia on
Saturday, only to find out that their travel agency had not arranged their
stay in hotels, or their journey back. According to a 1999 law, insurance
against bankruptcy is obligatory for travel agencies. Nevertheless, every
year a certain number of Czech tourists find themselves abandoned in
foreign countries. The case of the Harmonie Medical travel agency is not
the first, and most likely not the last, this year.
More
