The UNESCO listing brought foreign tourists to Kutná Hora

KUTNÁ HORA - The inscription of the historical center of Kutná Hora on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage list, which this former royal mining town became a part of ten years ago, is primarily a "trademark," according to Deputy Mayor Václav Vančura. Thanks to it, Kutná Hora has ranked among prestigious world monuments and is attracting more and more tourists.
"The inscription of historical parts on the list is not about money, but it is about enormous promotion worldwide, and especially about the development of tourism," Vančura told ČTK today. According to him, the number of visitors to Kutná Hora has been breaking records each year in recent years.
The director of the Kutná Hora guide service, Ivana Vopálková, told ČTK that the inscription also meant a fundamental change in the composition of tourists. While prior to 1996, more than 60 percent of the total visitors were Czech, now they make up only 20 percent, with the rest being foreigners. Being on the UNESCO list is prestigious, according to her, it serves as a recommendation for tourists on where to go. The financial benefit in terms of tourism is immeasurable, she added.
According to Mayor Ivo Šalátka, hundreds of thousands of visitors come every year to admire the beauty of the city. "In the past, Kutná Hora was a guarantee of wealth and prosperity for the Czech state. Today, it guarantees that historical legacies will be preserved for future generations," he said. The restoration of monuments costs a lot of money, according to him. "However, it is far from being done," he noted.
"I do not live in Kutná Hora, but I still feel somewhat of a patriot of Kutná Hora. I feel pride in this city, which is associated with my profession," said Vojtěch Láska from the National Heritage Institute during today’s ceremony on the occasion of the anniversary.
He reminisced that he found a report in the archive about the state of the historical center of Kutná Hora from 1966. It states that it is in critical condition and is the worst of the urban heritage reserves in Czechoslovakia. A few years later, he said, there was even a risk that the heritage-protected area of the city would decrease.
Kutná Hora became the fifth monument in the Czech Republic to be included on the list of world cultural and natural heritage after Prague, Český Krumlov, Telč, and the church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora near Žďár nad Sázavou. The decision on the inscription was made by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at its session on December 9, 1995.