HERITAGE TOURISM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to present the results of the research of cultural tourism in the Czech Republic, especially heritage tourism. Heritage tourism is an important form of tourism in the Czech Republic for both domestic and incoming tourism. The aim of the article is to show the level of Czech cultural tourism through research in several areas of heritage tourism. Methodology - To achieve the main purpose of this research two techniques have been applied: primary and secondary market research was evaluated on certain types of heritage tourism. Findings - The findings indicate that inhabitants of cities under research think that to increase the number of tourists in the city it is necessary to improve the infrastructure, look and tidiness of the city. Two-fifths of respondents said they do not want to increase the number of tourists. Inhabitants of rural conservation areas/zones are mostly proud of living in those villages but the increase in the number of tourists is not their priority. Skansen is an important part of rural cultural heritage. The largest proportion of castle and chateau visitors are one-day trippers. Contribution - Based on the above stated, it is evident that the local and regional culture in all its forms is one of the most valuable components of heritage tourism and also the paper evaluated the real possibilities for the development of some forms of heritage tourism in the Czech Republic.