Improving the Quality of Tourism Services at The Ministry for Regional Development

The system aims at improving the conditions in legislation, finance, education, innovations and certification. To date similar work has been carried out by the Tourism Department and the CzechTourism agency established by the department within the projects funded by the Integrated Operational Programme. Such projects as the recently launched CzechQuint and the CzechTourism agency focus on quality and innovations in particular. The national information system will be established within their framework. Also the content of the monitored statistical data is to be enhanced. Standards of services provided will be introduced in selected tourism sectors and certification will be applied based on them.

At the same time the projects aim at enhancing the tourism providers´ awareness of the certification options as well as of the benefits set for certified services or their providers respectively. One of the other goals is to promote certified services by informing their users, tourists in particular. Certified facilities will receive a tourism quality label.

“The introduction of the quality system in Czech tourism should increase competitiveness and help end-users orientate easily when selecting a service in tourism,” Regional Development Minister, Rostislav Vondruška, said.

The binding standards of services provided in the selected tourism sectors will apply to accommodation and catering facilities, travel agencies, guides, tourist information centres, wellness centres, hiking and hippo-tourism tracks, camps, etc.

A number of professional associations, such as the Association of Hotels and Restaurants, CR Guides Association, the Association of Czech Travel Agents and the CzechTourism agency, have joined the quality projects.

Source: MRD