Prague, because 100,000 Chinese can’t be wrong!

South Korean and Chinese tourists are the top visitors to Prague in 2017. 100,000 Chinese tourists and 140,000 South Korean tourists have graced the streets of Prague in the past year. In fact, the number of East Asian tourists visiting Prague has consistently grown every year (with the exception of Japan, which we will discuss later on). One reason for this is, among other things, is the direct flights from Prague to various East Asian cities, but this is far from the only cause.

The demand for tourism in Prague began following movies and series filmed in Prague, for example a popular romantic Chinese drama series that was filmed on the staircase of a Prague concert hall, the Rudolfium. A South Korean TV series resulted in a similar outcome, and Prague has since become a popular site for marriage for East Asian couples, which has resulted in a steady stream of East Asian tourists in the Karl Bridge and the Old City area.

Prague was also the site in which a popular Indian film was filmed, as well as the scene of several Bollywood films, which brings to the city tens of thousands of Indian tourists every year. In the first half of 2017, 40,000 Indian cities reached Prague, in comparison to 60,000 in all of 2016. Indian tourism is considered particularly surprising since to this day no direct flight exists from cities in India to Prague. There is also no direct flight from Japan to Prague, but the Japanese still throng Prague in massive numbers- around 80,000 in 2016.

However, television is not the main “culprit” for the situation and focused advertisements in South Korea and China have begun to bear fruit. Projections in Prague is that the trend is not going to change an time soon and they are already producing maps, tourist guidebooks and tourist information in Chinese, Korean and Japanese as well as an internet portal in these languages.

Excellent news for investors!

This may come as a surprise but you too can turn a profit from the East Asian tourist traffic in Prague, particularly in the tourism areas in Prague 1. Purchasing an apartment for an investment and short-term rentals (through, for example, Airbnb) can derive an annual double-digit return on your investment. Now all you have to do is learn a bit more about investing in tourism oriented apartments in Prague.