Background information

The COVID Spa programme, announced 20 August 2020, supported Czech spas, which had been badly damaged by the anti COVID-19 measures and the sharp decline in tourism sector (with the loss of 180,000–200,000 clients per year in Czech spas).

Thus the Government of the Czech Republic delivered CZK 1 billion (€37,481,260) in the form of vouchers worth CZK 4,000 (€150) per person (250,000 vouchers are available in total).

The call was opened 24 August 2020 with the deadline of 30 September 2020.

Content of measure

Eligible for the vouchers for accommodation in the spas were:

• people over 18 years with the Czech citizenship or with the permanent residence in Czechia, who are also covered by Czech public health insurance (i.e. those who pay public health insurance),
• those who spent at least six nights at a Czech spa and have at least five spa procedures at the spa hotel from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020.

People, who were interested in getting voucher, were required to register online via special website . The website generated a unique code and the guest received a discount immediately.

Use of measure

As of 2 October 2020, 147,000 vouchers have been downloaded, from which approximately 25% have been used by tourists. Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic has spent about CZK 1.8 million (€66,593) on this programme.

As of 31 May 2021, in the first call, 71 applications (out of 74) were approved with a total amount of CZK 150.58 million (€5,791,538). In the second call, there are 71 applications in the process.

As of 10 September 2021, 128,000 vouchers were published from the total number of 185,000 vouchers for 2021. According to the Minister of Regional Development, this programme helped Czech spas compensate losses caused by the decrease in sales mostly from foreign clients.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	Companies National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners, which are members of the tripartite body (Council of economic and social agreement, Rada hospodářské a sociální dohody, RHSD) were informed and consulted in both formal (requested by institutional settings) and informal ways. They are not involved in the management of policy measures.

Views and reactions

Supportive.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 29 July 2020: MMR: COVID Spa programme/MMR: COVID Lázně program (www.mmr.cz)
• 02 October 2020: MMR Press release: We have sent 1,8 mil. CZK to Czech spas/Tisková zpráva MMR: Prvním osmi lázeňským zařízením jsme poslali z programu COVID Lázně 1,8 milionu korun (www.mmr.cz)
• 06 April 2021: MMR: COVID Spa 2021/MMR: COVID Lázně 2021 (www.mmr.cz)
• 31 May 2021: MMR: Covid programmes statistics/MMR: Statistiky podpořených z covidových programů
• 14 September 2021: MMR: Czech tourism still alive/MMR: Cestovní ruch se nám podařilo udržet nad vodou (www.mmr.cz)