Holašovice want to expand their offerings for tourists

Holašovice (Českobudějovicko) - Holašovice, which today celebrated the tenth anniversary of its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, need to expand the offerings for tourists so that they stay in the village longer and spend more money. The farms on the square, which are historically valuable due to their historical gables, belong to private owners, and the municipality has few options to profit from tourism. As of now, it is still at a loss, said Jan Jílek, the mayor of Jankov, under which Holašovice falls, to reporters today.
    Annually, 80,000 to 100,000 tourists visit here. "They come here in awe and scratch the walls to see if it's made of gingerbread. But they walk around the square in 45 minutes and leave the village without spending a penny," summarized Jílek.
    Although the local architecture is a world unique, the municipality, with a five-million budget, subsidizes tourism by about 400,000 crowns a year. The South Bohemian Region contributes 300,000 crowns to this loss.
    There are more problems, for example, some private owners of the farms have permanent residency elsewhere, so taxes do not flow to Jankov. Additionally, travel agencies plan Holašovice only as a short stop on the way to busier cities, such as Český Krumlov, which is also on the UNESCO list.
    The infrastructure to keep and entertain tourists is still insufficient in Holašovice. Its development would benefit from clear protection rules and further development of the village from a heritage perspective, Jílek told ČTK.
    However, according to him, there are many reasons to celebrate, as UNESCO means prestige. Today, the municipality celebrated with a modern playground costing 3.3 million crowns, most of which it received from the state budget. It also has a new coat of arms and flag, and a newly planted linden tree and commemorative coins mark the anniversary of the inscription.
    Holašovice, located about 15 kilometers west of České Budějovice, is a unique ensemble of brick folk architecture. The square, on the perimeter of which 17 farms with typical gables have stood for more than 700 years, is considered by experts to be a unique preserved architectural complex not only in the Czech Republic but also in Europe.