scholarly journals Special Interest Tourism in the Czech Republic: Introduction and Overview

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63
Author(s):  
Markéta Novotná ◽  
Bohumil Frantál ◽  
Josef Kunc ◽  
Helena Kubíčková

Abstract The increasing importance of tourism and the growing number of tourists put pressure on tourist destinations. To support competitive and sustainable tourism development, it is advisable to focus on alternative forms of tourism in order to diversify tourism options in the destinations. From this point of view, it seems appropriate to deal with the issue of ‘Special Interest Tourism’ as a form of ‘alternative’, ‘ethical’, or ‘environmentally responsible’ tourism. The paper reflects the urgent need for sustainable tourism research. The aim of the paper is to provide the introduction and overview of the issue and outline perspectives that may open the way to future, more systematic research. The situation in the Czech Republic is based on the mapping of the current spatial distribution of selected special interest tourism attractions. The findings identify the possibilities for diversification of general (mass) tourism offers. The metadata from the Czech and foreign metainformation systems and databases are used.

Author(s):  
Michal Burian

This thesis is focused on preparation of basic elements of the National System for Support of Sustainable Tourism in the Czech Republic and on development of a methodology for ranking of selected tourist services from the sustainable point of view. Its result is planned to be used as a basis for real decisions potentially taken by the Czech government in near future.The first part analyses and summarises existing approaches worldwide to sustainable tourism, potential benefits and different impacts of tourism in order to specify possible measures avoiding unwanted impacts later on. The need to change towards sutainability in tourism is based on analysis of different policies and documents and a summary of duties of the Czech government (national ones and international ones). There is also a list of the best experiences available how to promote, support and encourage development of sustainable tourism based on analysis of the World Tourism Organisation studies and recommendations, existing EMS systems like ISO, EU ecolabel or methods, approaches, criteria and indicators used by different labels.Next part defines neccessary elements for successful system functioning in the Czech Republic, based on existing and working governmental and non-governmental structures not forgetting such important activities like information, education, marketing and motivation and sets expected responsibilities and roles of different potential partners participating on the system implementation.Unfortunately, there is no one certified tourist business in Czechia according to ISO, EMAS or EU flower before end of October 2004. Main reasons are price, missing benefits and motivations for businesses. Therefore an self-assesment questionnaire for a small-scale accommodation is developed. This fits with the „easy to understand, easy to answer“. This option is missing in the country and it is understood as a prestep to more sophisticated methods of measurment. The main sustainable criteria are set as “GUESTS“, “NATURE RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT“ (water, energy, green building, reduction of waste, soft mobility, biodiversity), “LOCAL COMMUNITIES“ (culture, economy) and “FUTURE“.The Czech Republic needs to start to implement sustainable tourism policies in practice. It should be organised in wide cross-sector partnership co-operation of profession associations, consumer associations and under the official responsibility of Ministry of Environment and Ministry for Regional Development (responsible for tourism). This thesis has been published in a shorten form during the WTO conference for Europe “Public Private Partnerships for Sustainability Certification of Tourism Activities“, taken place in October 2004 in Mariánské Lázně. Based on this presentation, conclusions and results of this thesis will be included in the project „National programme for Sustainability in Tourism“. This project will be submitted in the Czech government by both above mentioned ministries before end of 2004.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-73
Author(s):  
Mega Fitriani Adiwarna Prawira ◽  
Beta Budisetyorini ◽  
Deddy Adisudharma ◽  
Dicky Arsyul Salam ◽  
Wisi Wulandari ◽  
...  

Following up on the Development of The National Tourism Strategic Area of Lake Toba, which was directed in the study "Integrated Tourism Masterplan for Lake Toba" (ITMP Danau Toba) in 2018, one of which was the development of river-based natural tourism attractions allocated in the Asahan Watershed including Asahan Regency, Tanjung Balai Municipality, Toba Samosir Regency, and Simalungun Regency. Regarding the policy of river-based tourism attractions, this research is focused on developing river tourism activities that will have implications for the development of the natural attraction of the Asahan River. This study has produced a mixed method of sustainable tourism development strategies by prioritizing the benefits of the ecological, socio-economic and cultural environment. Development is directed towards packaging special interest tourism products following the characteristics of available resources.


Author(s):  
David Kolumber

The contribution “Anti-state Crimes in Modern Codifications” deals with the topic of anti-state crimes during centuries. Firstly, legal concepts in the pre-state period are mentioned. Then the attention is paid on the evolution of this institute in the Euro-Atlantic area. From this point of view, there are mentioned mainly regulations from England (1351), France (1810), Germany (1871) and Soviet Union (1958) which could be remarked as the most important for the development of other countries. On the other hand, it also reminds the development of codifications in Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were affected by the Austro-Hungarian legislations as well as German and Soviet approaches. The Czech current arrangement generally does not depart from the other European samples, but it cannot be omitted that in the Czech Republic it is distinguished the penal concept of the high treason (Landesverrat, vlastizrada) from the constitutional concept (Hochverrat, velezrada) which is dedicated to the presidential anti-state activities. The contribution also indicates that the concept of anti-state crimes in countries has not been unified and it has been varying according to various experiences and attitudes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Kevin FUCHS ◽  
Kris SINCHAROENKUL

Sustainable tourism is an increasingly fashionable term that is strongly correlated with the global age of increased mobility. While there is increasing interest in sustainable tourism, there is no contemporary research that describes the current state of Phuket, Thailand, the mass-tourism destination. An in-depth review of existing literature revealed that sustainable tourism at large receives a great deal of attention in its current state. This paper aimed to go beyond the common theme of sustainable tourism and conducted a thorough analysis about the status quo in Phuket with regard to sustainable tourism. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews (n=5) with industry experts and later analyzed the content by the means of thematic analysis. The research is specific to Phuket; therefore, the results of this research are not generalizable to other mass-tourism locations. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but it is evident that stakeholders in Phuket recognize the importance of sustainable tourism. Moreover, the lack of accountability, coherent leadership, and consistency resulted in a high failure rate when initiatives were launched to improve sustainable tourism behavior in Phuket.  


Author(s):  
Jaroslav Škrabal ◽  
Petra Chmielová

The aim of the article is to make a comparison of brownfields in the South Moravian, Olomouc, Zlín and Moravian-Silesian regions based on the spatial standpoint. Data on brownfields were obtained through the National Database of Brownfields, which is managed by the CzechInvest agency. Information about these abandoned buildings and grounds were dated on 31st March 2021. The finding of the contribution is the fact that the most abandoned buildings and areas are mainly in Moravian-Silesian and South Moravian Region. Most of brownfields are after industrial activities, civic amenities and agricultural activities. In the given article, the analysis of brownfields according to individual indicators was performed on the basis of spatial and geographical point of view. It was found that most of the examined abandoned buildings and areas are located mainly in cities, which were followed by municipalities. Furthermore, it was proved that the size of brownfields from 54% is in area up to 1 (ha). The following indicator was the distance of abandoned buildings and areas from the centre of the cadastral area. Based on the results, it was found that 45% of the analysed brownfields are located 1-3 km from the centre of the cadastral area.


Author(s):  
Martina Kuncova

The situation on the electricity retail market in the Czech Republic is not clear because of the number of suppliers and its products. Although the information about the prices for the electricity consumption for households is available on the web and each household can change the supplier nearly with no extra effort and cost, households are still often not familiar with the individual price items of the products. In this article the analysis of the Czech electricity market from the distribution rate D25d point of view is made for the years 2017-2018 when the household annual consumption is simulated via Monte Carlo simulation model. The aim of this paper is to select such a supplier and product that minimizes the total costs of the electricity for a household for the selected distribution rate and compare it with the results from the previous years.


Author(s):  
Debasish Batabyal

The alpine Indian State Sikkim represents nearly hundreds of Himalayan hill stations in India and other South Asian countries. Tourism is the most important phenomenon in almost all alpine states where leisure and recreations are predominating. Most of those destinations are also leaning more towards sustainable tourism practices as these are in a continuum starting from high intensity mass tourism to less intensity adventure and special interest tourism. The present article is a study clarifying the degree of performance and sustainability of tourist spending with a wider dimension of income and its relationship with some core tourism variables viz. the duration of stay, purpose of visit, optional excursion, group numbers and future visit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Vlasta Škorpíková ◽  
Václav Hlaváč ◽  
Milan Křápek

Abstract In 2015–2016, 6,429 km medium-voltage power lines with 76,430 pylons were checked for bird mortality in the Czech Republic. 1,326 bird victims of power lines were found, 156 of which died after collisions, and 1,170 birds were electrocuted. They belonged to 60 species from 12 orders, and birds of prey made up almost half of all victims. Steel pylons bearing several cross-arms including upper and crosswise jumpers were identified as most dangerous from the electrocution point of view. On the other hand, pylons in straight lines with Pařát cross-arms (triangular arrangement of conductors without any horizontal bar) were among the least dangerous, and when they had a simple perch fitted below the cross-arm, no mortality was recorded. But these pylons are new in practice and despite becoming widely used recently, they form less than one tenth of all pylons in the Czech Republic. On other pylons various types of mitigation measures have been installed. Commonly used plastic covers and plastic strips have proved to be especially effective, but only in cases when they are undamaged and correctly installed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristyna Rybova

The generation of recyclables in the Czech Republic has long been under the European average, but the proportion from municipal waste as a whole has been growing over the past few years. Previous research in the Czech Republic mainly focused on organizational or situational factors explaining recycling performance in municipalities. This study focuses on individual characteristics that are connected, among other things, to ongoing demographic changes. Currently ongoing sociodemographic development in the Czech Republic, as well as other developed countries, influence a broad range of aspects of social life, including waste generation and its structure. This paper aims at quantifying the relation between the sociodemographic characteristics of municipality inhabitants and recyclable generation. For this purpose, 13 variables describing inhabitants, households, and housing in 4897 Czech municipalities were selected that could influence the generation of recyclables according to foreign studies. Data were analyzed using multidimensional linear regression. Even though the resulting model only explains 9%, it is statistically significant and implies that sociodemographic variables can help explain recyclable generation. From this point of view, important variables are average household size, share of tertiary educated people, share of family houses, purchasing power per person, percentage of people employed in agriculture, and sex ratio. To increase the explained variability and emphasize local differences in recyclable generation, we also used geographically weighted regression (GWR). GWR results show that, to understand waste generation (at least in the Czech Republic) on a municipal level, it is necessary to also consider spatial effects and regional specifics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 11-31
Author(s):  
Marek Nowacki

Purpose. The aim of this study is: (1) to compare the features of ski resorts in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in relation to the prices of ski passes, (2) to indicate the best ski resorts in these countries in terms of value for money - the ratio of offered quality to the price of ski passes, (3) to compare of differences in value for money (e.g. offered quality compared to the price of a ski pass) in these countries. Method. Data for analysis were features of quality and prices of one-day ski passes for 245 ski resorts in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The data was obtained from the websites of the surveyed ski resorts and web pages: skiinfo.pl, holidayinfo.cz and holidayinfo.sk. The quality index of ski resorts was constructed using Principal Component Analysis of the seventeen quality features regarding the studied resorts. The comparison of ski resorts was conducted using the Free Disposable Hull analysis. Differences in the level of quality of the resorts' and ski pass prices were calculated using the Kruskal-Wallis H nonparametric test. Findings. Eleven features of the eighteen surveyed locations were differentiated between surveyed countries (including the price of the ski pass: Polish ski passes are the most expensive and the cheapest are in Slovakia). The FDH analysis revealed the existence of eight effective – from the skiers' point of view – ski resorts, i.e. those that offer the given quality at the lowest price (value for money). Polish ski resorts are characterized by significantly higher quality than Czech or Slovak resorts. Research and conclusion limitations. The analysis did not take the impact that congestion and queues to lifts, prices of accommodation, restaurants and nightlife in the resort (except night skiing) might have had on the skiers decision into account. The results may also be influenced by the method of quality index construction. Practical implications. The results of FDH analysis enable the identification of inefficient ski resorts in the analysed countries and indication of the differences existing in terms of quality between ski resorts. The conclusions allow to select the most efficient ski resorts which can be helpful in the design of tourist offers and it may also indicate the need for adjustments in prices of ski passes at some ski resorts. Originality. No comparative analyses of Polish, Czech and Slovak ski resorts were found in the literature to date. Type of paper. The article presents the results of empirical research.


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