Zlín wants to attract tourists with Baťa architecture

Zlín - The Zlín city hall and the Zlín region want to attract more tourists to the city through the Baťa architecture. According to the mayor's deputy Miroslav Šenkýr, understanding opinions and ideas for its further development is also an important impetus for the site's modernization. The governor's deputy Libor Lukáš said at a press conference today that Zlín and its urbanism could become a brand in Europe. This will be aided by the international symposium Utopie moderny: Zlín, which started today in Zlín.
    According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, the number of visitors to the Zlín region dropped in the first quarter of this year. A total of 90,631 guests stayed in hotels, guesthouses, and other facilities, which is 8.6 percent less than during the same period last year. The number of tourists in the Zlín region had already declined in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the first impacts of the global economic crisis began to show on visitor numbers.
    “We do not know how Zlín is performing in terms of attendance, as we do not have the capacity to gather this data. However, there are many potentials that can be significantly utilized. For example, architecture or the unique waterway of the Baťa Canal,” Šenkýr told ČTK today.
    The four-day international symposium is set to present significant sites in Zlín and Otrokovice. Over 280 historians, architects, sociologists, professors, artists, and directors will take participants on guided tours of the former shoe factory buildings, the Baťa skyscraper - the former headquarters of Baťa, the Shoe Museum, the permanent exhibition in the original Baťa house, the facilities of the Zlín Film Studios, Tomáš Baťa's villa, the Baťa School of Work Alumni Club, and Otrokovice, specifically the Baťov section. There will also be a number of expert lectures. All events are free for the public, though registration is required for the guided walks.
    The international symposium is a complementary event to the extensive exhibition Phenomenon Baťa - Zlín Architecture 1910 to 1960, which runs until the end of May at the Prague Exhibition Palace. A joint project of the National Gallery in Prague and the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín, it showcases drawings and plans of social and commercial buildings as well as the transformations of Zlín in the 1950s and the beginnings of panel construction. Many exhibits are being presented to the public for the first time.