URBAN TOURISM AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Combining a rich tourist potential, an essential material basis of accommodation, food entertainment and transportation, numerous facilities for business and services of good quality, the city offers optimal conditions for developing tourism, which is true nodes on the convergence of national and international tourist flows. Urban areas that are committed to developing a tourism destination for visitors and residents alike can ensure sustainability and economic benefits for the community and region. This paper aims to discuss how urban tourism can influence regional development in the Czech Republic by comparing the urban tourism of the Capital City of Prague and the Statutory City of Ostrava in the Moravian-Silesian Region. To measure tourism intensity in Prague City and Ostrava City the indicators as Tourist Intensity Ratio, Tourist Density Ratio, Tourism Penetration Ratio, Augmented Tourism Density Ratio, Impact of Tourism Activities on the Locality, Relative Beds per Establishment, and Defert 's tourist function index were calculated At the same time, the selected elements of urban tourism in both Cities were presented. Literature Review, content analysis of documents been also conducted to answer the research question: Can urban tourism influence the regional development?