INBOUND TOURISM IN PRAGUE SURVEY OF VISITORS TO PRAGUE RESULTS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND WAVE

Transcription

1 INBOUND TOURISM IN PRAGUE SURVEY OF VISITORS TO PRAGUE RESULTS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND WAVE The tourist survey takes place in Prague over a period of three years The field investigations are performed 2x per year in December-January and June-July - 1st wave: December January nd wave: June - July 2015 The survey is intended to determine the following: - what motivates foreign and domestic tourists to travel to Prague - the reasons for their stay in Prague - the structure of expenditures and services used - whether tourists are satisfied with their visit - what they like best about Prague - whether they are returning to Prague - where they get their information from - how much they are willing to use modern technologies Target group: visitors to Prague 15 years of age or older Method: TAPI (Tablet Aided Personal Interviewing) Interviewers randomly select members of the target group to complete the survey Surveys are collected evenly in 26 pre-determined locations A total of 3,078 respondents took part in the first two waves; the minimum number for each round is 1,500 Maximum quota per nationality: 120 people/1 wave The survey is available in 12 languages: Czech, English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Polish and Dutch Prepared by: GfK Czech, s.r.o. for Prague City Tourism Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 1

2 RESPONDENT AGE STRUCTURE In the winter the most respondents were in the age bracket In the summer the age bracket was also the most represented, but the overall age structure was more balanced Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 2

3 RESPONDENT GENDER STRUCTURE Both genders were equally represented in both waves Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 3

4 RESPONDENT ORIGIN STRUCTURE (REGION OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE) In both waves the greatest number of respondents came from Europe, with Asia in second place Visitors from 85 countries around the world took part in the first wave, with 88 countries in the second wave The greatest number of respondents were recruited from TOP countries based on visitor numbers, i.e. Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, USA, Russia and South Korea Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 4

5 MAIN PURPOSE OF VISIT In the winter 63% of tourists came only to Prague, in summer half of them The ratio of people coming to Prague in combination with visiting other European cities was much higher in the summer Places in Europe most frequently visited along with Prague: Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, Germany Places in CR most frequently visited along with Prague: Český Krumlov, Karlovy Vary, Kutná Hora, Brno Prague was a transit-only city for just a negligible fraction of tourists Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 5

6 NUMBER OF VISITS TO PRAGUE Tourists visiting Prague for the first time predominated in both waves, although in summer the difference was even more striking The number of repeat visits is closely related to the respondent s country of residence The most frequent returning visitors are those who live closest - Czechs, Slovaks, Germans Less frequent returning visitors are those who list historical monuments as the main reason for their visit Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 6

7 MAIN REASON FOR VISITING PRAGUE The vast majority of visitors came to Prague on a private trip, with business trips in the minority Most tourists came to Prague to see historical monuments, history and architecture - in winter more than half, in summer nearly 70%; all other reasons came in much lower Entertainment was a more frequent reason for trips in winter as compared to summer, including visits or business trips Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 7

8 MAIN IMPETUS FOR VISITING PRAGUE In both waves recommendations from relatives or friends who had visited Prague previously bore the greatest weight in making the decision to come to Prague The second main impetus for visiting in the winter was visitors own experience from past visits, while in the summer it was location - the city s strategic position Only a relatively small percentage of visitors chose Prague based on a travel agency offer or good ticket prices Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 8

9 ORGANIZING THE VISIT TO PRAGUE Almost 87% of respondents came to Prague without outside organization - they planned their trip themselves (or a family or friend did it for them) About a tenth of visitors came on a trip organized by a travel agency If visitors use travel agencies, they are primarily foreign travel agencies Trips organized by another entity (such as a school or sports group) were more frequent in summer Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 9

10 SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT PRAGUE PRIOR TO TRIP The main source of information prior to starting the trip was the Internet - 65% of winter visitors and 76% of summer visitors got information online In both rounds most visitors found information mainly on travel sites such as TripAdvisor or social media Almost a third of winter visitors used official websites about Prague or the Czech Republic, 40% in summer In both rounds almost a third of guests got recommendations from friends or relatives; printed travel guides served as another major source of information Communication channels and tourism trade fairs were less significant in the summer Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 10

11 SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT PRAGUE DURING TRIP Significant sources of information came in the same order in both waves Almost 60% of people get information electronically during their trip Only a slightly smaller percentage uses a paper map Nearly a third of visitors use printed tour guides Over 20% of tourists visit information centres in person A significantly higher proportion of tourists used the services of a professional tour guide in summer Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 11

12 MOBILE PHONE USE DURING TRIP TO PRAGUE About half of tourists kept their mobile turned on during their whole trip to Prague, while just 39% did the same in summer More than 8% of winter visitors did not use a mobile phone at all when traveling, while in summer it was 17.5% Visitors in the middle age bracket (30-49) keep their mobile on all the time most frequently, while the 70+ do so least frequently However, each age bracket had each type of person Czechs stood out strongly from other nationalities in both waves - more than 80% of them kept their mobiles on at all times Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 12

13 INTERNET USE DURING TRIP TO PRAGUE 38% of tourists in both waves used an Internet connection almost constantly during their trip to Prague The highest percentage of tourists used the Internet only at the hotel - almost half 6.5% of winter visitors and over 10% of summer visitors did not use the Internet at all The most frequently permanently online age bracket was The most respondents not online at all during their trip to Prague belonged to the 70+ age bracket However, each age bracket had each type of person Czechs stood out strongly from other nationalities in both waves - more than 60% of them were permanently online Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 13

14 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES Respondents were presented with nine types of services for assessment: - Urban public transport - Taxi service - Tourist and information centers - Guide service - Guidance and navigation system - Exchange offices - Knowledge of languages and helpfulness of people in services - Security - Orderliness Visitors to Prague were predominantly satisfied with services in most areas where the survey was offered Very successful areas include: public transport, safety, cleanliness, tourist information centre services and tour guides A larger percentage of tourists gave negative ratings to taxi services, foreign exchange offices, the orientation and navigation system in Prague and the foreign language ability and helpfulness of people in services Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 14

15 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES A) URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT Public transport had the best ratio of satisfied to dissatisfied tourists out of the services assessed Very low percentage of dissatisfaction Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 15

16 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES B) TAXI SERVICE Taxis are one of the worst rated services A relatively low percentage of tourists used taxis - 40% in winter, 34% in summer Some tourists stated that they did not use this service because they had received prior warning of dishonesty Of those who did use taxis, one in five tourists was dissatisfied in the first wave and one in four in the second Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 16

17 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES C) TOURIST AND INFORMATION CENTERS Tourist information centres were only assessed by those tourists who used them during their stay Satisfaction with information centres is high Tourists assessed information centres in general, not only those from Prague City Tourism Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 17

18 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES D) GUIDE SERVICE Tour guide services were only assessed by those tourists who consider them one of their information sources during their stay Satisfaction with tour guide services is high; only a little over 2% of visitors in both waves were dissatisfied Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 18

19 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES E) GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION SYSTEM Dissatisfaction with the orientation and navigation system is relatively high - in summer it was the worst rated of all the services assessed, in winter the second worst Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 19

20 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES F) EXCHANGE OFFICES Foreign exchange offices are one of the worst rated services Half of tourists polled used them in the winter, over 40% in the summer Some tourists stated that they did not use this service because they had received prior warning of dishonesty Of those who did use foreign exchange offices in Prague, one in four tourists was dissatisfied in both winter and summer Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 20

21 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES G) KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES AND HELPFULNESS OF PEOPLE IN SERVICES Language skills and helpfulness from people in services was one of the areas with the most positive or negative responses from respondents Although most tourists were satisfied with the services offered, 14% of summer visitors and 12% of winter visitors expressed dissatisfaction Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 21

22 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES H) SECURITY Tourists rate Prague as a safe city In absolute figures satisfaction in this area is close to 90% By contrast dissatisfaction is very low Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 22

23 SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES I) ORDERLINESS In absolute figures cleanliness (in the city, toilets, etc.) comes just after safety as the services tourists rated best Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 23

24 POPULAR PLACES IN PRAGUE Visitors in both waves primarily named the most famous landmarks - the Prague Castle and Charles Bridge most of all The Vltava River, Petřín and Vyšehrad were also popular in both periods Relatively often, especially in winter, tourists named restaurants, pubs and specific museums or cultural events In the summer months visitors to Prague named areas outside the town centre and traditional tourist route less often If a place outside the city centre was mentioned, it was usually in Prague 7, 3 or 2 The graph depicts only the seven most frequently mentioned places Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 24

25 EXCHANGING MONEY None of the methods of exchanging money came out as the clear winner The two most frequent methods of exchanging money are ATM withdrawals and at a foreign exchange office in the Czech Republic 30% of visitors paid by card and a similar number exchanged money before they travelled to Prague Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 25

26 AVERAGE SPENDING - EXPENDITURE STRUCTURE Average expenditures in CZK during the entire stay 1st wave 2nd wave Accommodations including breakfast, half 3,459,- 3,740,- board or full board Transport to Prague 3,360,- 4,432,- Transport around Prague 410,- 265,- Meals in restaurants - not included in the 2,322,- 2,259,- price of accommodations + food and drinks Other expenditures - souvenirs, gifts, 1,432,- 1,208,- clothing, maps, medications, culture, etc. Average not including transport to 7,623,- 7,472,- Prague Total average 10,983,- 11,904,- Average expenditures in CZK/day 1st wave 2nd wave Accommodations including breakfast, half 781,- 764,- board or full board Transport to Prague 766,- 888,- Transport around Prague 94,- 53,- Meals in restaurants - not included in the 522,- 452,- price of accommodations + food and drinks Other expenditures - souvenirs, gifts, 573,- 242,- clothing, maps, medications, culture, etc. Average not including transport to 1,970,- 1,511,- Prague Total average 2,736,- 2,398,- Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 26

27 TOURISTS RETURNING TO PRAGUE Over 80% of tourists intend to return to Prague; 51% say definitely so The number of people who do not want to return is very low The most frequent reason given for visitors not wanting to return is that they do not feel Prague as a city is interesting enough for (another) separate visit Pražská informační služba Prague City Tourism Oddělení statistiky a analýz Stránka 27