Prague Convention Bureau makes statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

The representatives of the Czech Republic and Prague MICE community have deeply condemned the Russian invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine. At the same time, the Czech Republic, and Prague as one of the key Czech cities dealing with the arrival of refugees, are expressing solidarity to those who lost their home or even relatives due to this armed conflict, providing support and help. Roman Muška, managing director at the Prague Convention Bureau, commented: “As the current situation has touched many aspects of our daily life, we at the Prague Convention Bureau, official representative of the City of Prague in the field of meetings industry, would like to comment on the current development in Prague in this regard and answer many questions that can possibly arise with this unprecedented situation.” State of emergency declared with no effect to locals or travellers Czech Republic has welcomed around 200 000 refugees (out of nearly 3m refugees in total based on UN report). To be able to handle efficiently the waves of new arrivals, the Czech Government declared a state of emergency (4 March) for 30 days which could later be extended. The state of emergency represents no effect to the local inhabitants, leisure, or business travellers. Prague venues available for events Two largest cities in the Czech Republic – Prague and Brno, are serving as the main point of the first contact in the country. The City of Prague established an Assistance Centre at the Prague Congress Centre that has suitable conditions for welcoming large numbers of people. The Congress Centre will still welcome local as well as international events in other parts of the venue, that are separate from the Assistance Centre. Lenka Žlebková, CEO of the Prague Congress Centre, stated: “We believe that we are able to meet not only the humanitarian but also our business needs. One way to support us and the rest of the Czech Republic, as well as Europe, is to go through with planned events. We are very grateful to the organisers of the World Environmental Education Congress, who saw this as an opportunity, and they are right now in the PCC running their congress while the refugee centre is in full operation. It is very unfortunate that other two international congresses preferred to move them into online space, even though they were also offered another venue in Prague.” Accommodation capacity of Prague Czech hoteliers swiftly are reacting to the ongoing situation and have offered part of their accommodation capacities. Prague is still able to accommodate large events and their participants. In total, Prague offers more than 44,500 rooms (102 000+ beds) in 910 hotels of various categories. Václav Stárek, president the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, said: “Prague has not lost neither its reputation as a safe destination nor the scope and quality of services provided. Hotels are ready to meet all the expectations of tourists and participants of MICE events and therefore reaffirm the position of the capital city among the leading MICE destinations.” Travelling to Prague and the Czech Republic Similarly to other countries, the Czech Republic completely closed its airspace to air carriers from Russia from 27 February 2022. Due to the state of war declared in Ukraine, the civil airspace has been closed, and air traffic from and to Ukraine has been interrupted. Covid-19 restrictions lifted Based on the latest numbers, Czech Republic lifted all the restrictions except the obligation of wearing face masks in the public transportation and at the facilities providing medical or social services.