A Cultural Heritage City on the Path to Sustainability: Current Opportunities and Threats for Český Krumlov
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | This presentation aims to provide some critical reflections on Český Krumlov as a unique highly tourism-dependent Czech urban destination. It draws implications from the previous tourism development and propose future tourism transition to more sustainable level. Originally, Cesky Krumlov was an economically poorer foothill border area with predominant agriculture, gradually transitioning to textile and wood processing industries. During the socialist era, no investments in transport infrastructure or housing were realized and the city centre was in a dismal state. Since 1990, tourism has contributed significantly to the city's economy. The positive tourism impacts were connected to the revitalization of the historical centre, new jobs, and significant revenues to the city budget. With the tourism development, however, some of the original residents were evicted into flats on the city's periphery; the historical centre struggled with depopulation and the destruction of community life. Natural isolation of the city centre of Český Krumlov combined with high dependence on tourism led to its touristification. Absolutely poor transport infrastructure and a large number of one-day visitors (esp. from Southeast Asia) brought by buses caused traffic problems and infrastructure congestion – these problems called for measures to be taken. In terms of the perceived image and the number of tourists, Český Krumlov was approaching the phase of stagnation within the Butler's destination life cycle before COVID-19 pandemic. The post-pandemic development, however, has brought opportunities for rejuvenation of destination ' s life cycle. High-quality products, highlighting local culture, recent industrial history, and the authenticity of the destination together with the modernization of the existing transport infrastructure and accessibility of attractions around the destination could help to disperse the flow of tourists over space and time and address quality over quantity. |
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