The Tatra Mountains have lost the battle for customers from the Russian speaking countries against the Alps, writes Hospodarske Noviny daily on Wednesday. It's a combination of the armed conflict in Ukraine and a rapid drop of both, Russian rouble and Ukrainian hryvnia that have caused fewer tourists coming to Slovakia's' High and Low Tatras. Moreover, another threat to the tourist industry is coming to the surface. The Czech crown is falling down - its rate in relation to the euro dropped to a six-year minimum on Monday, 11 January. Analysts claim that a continuing increase in the prices of euro for Czech tourists could be even more bad news. However, the drop in the value of the Czech crown isn't a reason for panic, for now, thinks chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Slovak Association of Tour Operators František Kornaj. "There is the danger, but only if the drop in the value of the crown would reach 15 up to 20 percent. The current drop won't have an influence on prices," he noted. Hoteliers in the Tatras are well aware of the threat. Marketing director Alena Kičová from the Hotel Partizan Tale in Low Tatras noted that they offer various package deals to lure more tourists to the Tatras.
Families with school children may be able to save when venturing off for holidays in Slovakia, with the Government planning to introduce holiday vouchers to boost domestic travel, Pravda daily reports on Wednesday. According to information acquired by the newspaper, the governing Smer-SD is planning to unveil the measure as part of its second package of measures aimed at improving the social situation of people in Slovakia. The series of such measures is expected to be presented in March - a year before the 2016 parliamentary elections. The measure has been also mentioned in the Government-sponsored national tourism strategy as one of the steps that could boost domestic demand, transferring the interest of Slovak tourists to spend a holiday in Slovakia and not abroad. Smer-SD had previously mentioned the introduction of travel vouchers back in 2007, wanting to introduce vouchers worth 10,000 Slovak crowns (approximately €330). 50 percent of the price was supposed to be covered by employers and the rest from state coffers. The then Minister of Economy Jahnátek expected to introduce the vouchers by 2009, but the plan was put aside due to the recession. The travel voucher system has proved effective in Switzerland, France, Poland and Hungary, reports the Pravda daily.
