A Study of the Development of Tourism in the Czech Republic Selected Aspects

The following paper analyses the declining contribution of tourism to the gross domestic product and the gross value added of the Czech economy as well as the tax revenues levied on the sector which, in the long-term, tend to follow a downward trend. An analysis of the possible causes of the situation shows that most of the reasons that are usually put forward are unfounded and fail to provide a satisfactory explanation for the aforementioned state of affairs. Based on a large set of different statistical data, the paper argues that the stagnation of the tourism sector in the Czech Republic in terms of its capacity to contribute to the GDP, gross value added and to state tax revenues is due to other factors. The Czech currency exchange rate to the euro and the US dollar is only on in a series of factors and, more importantly, it does not have a fundamental impact. The stagnation of the sector within the Czech domestic economy is attributable rather to a reduction of tourism activities of the residents. The drop or stagnation of tax revenues from the industry was related more to the increased share of shadow economy in the sector than to other factors.