The first-ever presentation of traditional tourism fairs at the PVA EXPO PRAGUE exhibition grounds was a great success. Holiday World & Region World offered visitors almost the whole world at one address. The fairs, which took place from 13 to 16 February 2020 under the baton of the organising company, ABF, were enjoyed by 31,217 satisfied visitors.
The Holiday World & Region World International Tourism Fairs are the most important event of their kind not only in the Czech Republic but also in the Central Europe region. “In 2020, National Tourist Centres from traditional European countries as well as distant destinations such as America, Asia and Africa presented their wares at Holiday World & Region World. Four hundred and eighty-nine exhibitors from forty-six countries presented their exhibits and stalls in the Czech Republic on an exhibition area of 11,270 m². The regions of the Czech Republic also tempted visitors with adventures for tourists and dozens of tour operators and agencies promoted current offers of tours all around the world,” says Martin František Přívětivý, Sales and Marketing Director from the organising company ABF.
Tunisia – partner country of the fair
For 2020, Tunisia was proud to be Holiday World’s partner country. It presented its golden coasts with gradual slopes leading into the sea, a sunny climate, 2.5 to 3 hours’ flight time from the Czech Republic, a rich variety of sights, delicious cuisine and the hospitality of the locals, making Tunisia one of the most desirable destinations, which was visited by almost 110,000 Czechs in 2019. “As it does every year, this year too the Tunisian National Tourist Office took part in Holiday World. This year, though, as a partner country of this fair for the first time since we have been coming here. We hope that the visitors to the fair enjoyed the performance by the Tunisian music group and the demonstration of Tunisian crafts at our stand,” says Mohamed Oussama Ben Yedder, Director of the Tunisian National Tourist Office.
Discovering the regions across the Czech Republic
As part of a parallel event with the characteristic name Region World, the focus was on the regions of the Czech Republic. The main topic was the ever-popular pastime of hiking. Almost all the regions represented offered the jewels of the regions of the Czech Republic in all their beauty at Region World. The partner region for 2020 was the beautiful South Bohemian Region. “The change of location for the fair was a success. Not only did visitors accept this change and arrive in large numbers, but in terms of the technical facilities and the programme everything was of a quality in keeping with how important the event is. I am very glad that we were involved this year as a partner region and I look forward to continuing our cooperation,” says Ing. Jaromír Polášek, Director of the South Bohemian Tourist Centre.
19th annual Prima ZOOM WorldFilm travel festival
The spectacular Prima ZOOM WorldFilm travel festival was again held as part of the accompanying programme. This year it offered visitors the chance to meet adventurers of really high renown. Talks were given, for example, by the adopted member of the Yawalapiti tribe Mnislav Zelený Atapana, the traveller and photographer Jirka Kolbaba, the head of the Czech Institute of Egyptology Professor Miroslav Bárta, the former Czechoslovak mountaineer Dina Štěrbová and many others. “For the first time this year, the travel festival and fair travelled! From Holešovice to Letňany! I’m so glad we didn’t lose our audiences. That they came to us at our new premises. Again, it was true that WorldFilm is mainly a big travel meeting, a holiday at the beginning of the year, where travellers (and not only those giving talks) can meet in one place before they travel around the globe,” says the director and polar explorer Petr Horký, the programme director of Prima ZOOM WorldFilm.
Farewell to the Tatra Around The World 2 expedition team
The fair also offered a special opportunity to say goodbye to the whole Tatra Around The World 2 expedition team. During the whole weekend, visitors to the fair could examine the unique Tatra 815 with their own eyes. The specially modified car, which on 22 February 2020 will follow on from the Tatra expedition around the world from 1987 to 1990. On the main stage the organisers Marek Havlíček and Petr Holeček had lots of interesting things to say about the whole project, including screenings. Stanislav Synek, the last surviving member of the original Tatra Around The World expedition, was also there.
TV faces as part of the fair
Dad on a Trip alias Josef Vrtal from the Autosalon TV show advised visitors on how to travel a considerable distance around the world with young children. The popular presenter and actor Dalibor Gondík shared his experiences of travelling with a caravan in Slovakia with visitors to the fair and also presented his programme In a Caravan Around Slovakia which is shown on Czech Television. As usual, the actor Václav Vydra also took part in the fairs as the fairy-tale king Václav V., called Vydra. Actors from the Palace Theatre, Miroslav Etzler, Martina Hudečková and Ladislav Hampl also had signing at the fairs.
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Trips Worth a Million and Expedition Camera
The accompanying programme also included the eleventh annual Expedition Camera Film Festival. And for the eleventh time, visitors were able to compete for Trips Worth a Million. In cooperation with the tourism portal Where in the Czech Republic, the results of voting in the eighth year of the Region of My Heart poll were announced. The South Moravian Region was the overall winner of this poll.
Accompanying programme for professionals
A new feature of the fair this year was the first year of Matchmaking Business Meeting Tourism Prague 2020. These B2B meetings between Czech and foreign entrepreneurs were a great success. One hundred and twenty companies and institutions from the Czech Republic, Europe and distant exotic countries from all over the world signed up for the first year of MBM Tourism Prague 2020. Partners for meetings were found by almost 100 participants from 26 countries who held more than 220 bilateral business meetings and dozens of informal meetings.
As part of the accompanying programme, a two-day meeting of the Enterprise Europe Network – Sector Group Tourism and Cultural Heritage was also held. Twenty-one members of this professional sector group came to Prague and they also appreciated the standard of both fairs and were surprised by their size.
The Final Phase of Electronic Sales Records in Tourism conference, which took place on the first day of the fair headed by the Czech Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová, was certainly very interesting and important.
Almost 200 tourism professionals took part in the third annual 360° Travel Trends with the subtitle Rising Stars, or who is shaping the future of the Czech Republic in tourism.
In collaboration with the organisers of Holiday World & Region World, CzechTourism organised the first year of the Media Day networking event. At the event representatives from the thirteen regions of the Czech Republic presented to the media from Russia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Benelux a selection of the most interesting places for the upcoming tourist season.
The Taste of Travelling
The Taste of Travelling food festival was also a big hit with visitors. It was organised by the traveller Karel Wolf in collaboration with the Around the World festival and the organizers of Holiday World. People had the opportunity to taste gastronomic specialties from Mexico, Indonesia, Venezuela, Italy, Armenia, Georgia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Spain, Congo and other countries.
Let’s give the past a future
Holiday World & Region World also joined forces with the Monuments – Museums – Crafts fairs in a lovely way. Thanks to this collaboration, there was an amazing and logical synergy between monuments and tourism, as the most interesting historic sights in the country, including churches, were presented at the event which was under the auspices of the Czech Ministry of Culture. Finally, it is important to emphasise that these quality fairs, i.e. Holiday World & Region World and Monuments – Museums – Crafts, could be enjoyed by visitors with just a single ticket.
Markéta Klíma Holatová
PR Manager, Holiday World / Region World
E-mail: holatova@abf.cz, M: +420 602 135 473