Czechia and India in Support of Direct Flight
22.10.2019 / 15:48
The Embassy of the Czech Republic in India, together with CzechTourism, organized on October 14 – 17, 2019 another successful event in support of tourism and travelers exchange between the Czech Republic and India. Project called Presentation and Matchmaking Seminar on Direct Flight New Delhi - Prague, was supported by Economic Diplomacy Projects Support Tool and also attended by Prague Airport. Supporting the re-establishment of a direct flight connection is one of the priorities of the tourism development of both countries and is an important intersection of interests and future relations of both countries.
The Czech Republic continuously strengthens tourism cooperation with one of the most promising source markets in the world. In the year 2018, 96 325 Indian visitors came to the Czech Republic which witnessed impressive 12.5 percent increase compared to 2017. In 2019, more than 100,000 Indians are expected to overcome the magic threshold. Need to say, that India's clientele ranking among the most solvent and longest-remaining. However, the absence of direct flight connections between the two countries constitutes a barrier to the further development of tourism.
From the Czech Republic came to support this intent Director of CzechTourism's foreign offices, Mrs. Klára Vysloužilová and also Mr. Jiří Vyskoč, Executive Director of the Prague Airport´s Aviation Business, who together with Ambassador Milan Hovorka, held a number of meetings in the past days from India.
A three-day visit to India of representatives from CzechTourism and Prague Airport peaked on October 17, 2019 with a networking dinner. In the course of the meeting, representatives of the Embassy and both institutions informed Indian partners about discussions they had with their counterparts to strengthen bilateral tourism and promote the idea of having a direct flight connection between the two countries.
These included a meeting at the Ministry of Tourism, where we met with a team led by Joint Secretary Suman Billa, and at the Ministry of Civil Aviation, where we called on Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola or the management of Indhira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi to jointly present the potential which the Czech Republic offers to further promote tourism and travel through the establishment of direct air connection. The Czech Republic is one of the most promising destinations in Europe and data on growth of incoming tourism from countries like India confirm the potential.
Milan Dostál, Commercial and Economic Counsellor, The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Delhi