Tourists’ absence hurts Bata
Business is picking up again for footwear group Bata in the Czech Republic, the place where the company launched in 1894, following the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
Ongoing limits that prevent the usual numbers of tourists visiting Prague, the country’s popular capital city, are hurting the company’s recovery.
This is what Marco Farnetani, Bata’s managing director in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, said in recent comments to the Italo-Czech Chamber of Business.
Most shops were closed in the Czech Republic from March 14 until May 11. Mr Farnetani said business had gone well in many of Bata’s 85 shops in the Czech Republic and Slovakia since shops were allowed to open again.
However, he said that in places that often attract high numbers of tourists, such as Prague, the absence of tourists continues to be a problem. He said footfall in Prague is at a level of around 35% of what it was at this time last year.
