CZECHOSLOVAKIA RAISING IRON CURTAIN TO TOURISTS FOUND PROFITABLE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30546, 15 September 1964, Page 16

CZECHOSLOVAKIA RAISING IRON CURTAIN TO TOURISTS FOUND PROFITABLE

[By

LEAVITT F. MORRIS,

Travel Editor of the "Christian Science Monitor," from Prague I

(Reprinted by arrangement.)

Hope is flaring anew among many people in Czechoslovakia that much better days lie immediately ahead. This hope stems from a nl^ nbei of recent developments, the most important of which, perhaps, is tne vzec i Government’s cordial bid to people from Western countries to visit thenland free of any restrictions.

The intermingling of the Czech people and their “guests from the West is doing much to ease tensions and clear some misunderstandings. There is a much freer atmosphere, I was told by a Czech here. One expresses oneself more freely, listens more freely.

In Bohemia, as in Slovakia and Moravia, more and more Czechs are attending church services without the slightest concern about what some members of the “party” might think. Even more important is that the children are being brought to Sunday school.

It is easy to observe that the Czechs’ highly vaunted socialist system is not working ideally. Far from it. The Government has found it cannot entirely isolate itself from the West; that it cannot depend on bettering economic conditions by limiting its trade with other countries of the Eastern bloc.

The quickest and easiest way to remedy this situation j is tourism. Czechoslovakia has watched Bulgaria, Rumania, Jugoslavia and Hungary “profit” by income earned through tourism. It has observed that by raising the Iron Curtain sound money accumulates rapidly. In turn this easilyearned money is used to buy much-needed goods from the West. The tourist trade, however, does more than fill government coffers for purchases abroad. It eases unrest among many of the people who instinctively rebel at being isolated from former friends or from doing some travelling of their own. Czechs are being allowed to travel to countries other than those in their own bloc. A large group of Czechs this month will visit England, escorted by a Government Tourist Bureau guide. Favourable Exchange To counter the competition from neighbouring Bulgaria, Hungary, and Jugoslavia, Czechoslovakia has made itself one of the best tourist “buys” of these Eastern countries by doubling the rate of exchange for Western visitors. It was soon learned from critical visitors—and the Czech officials evidently listened to this criticism —that the tourist rate of 14 crowns to. the dollar, even though the official rate is seven, made their country much too expensive. But low the new rate makes Czechoslovakia almost a paradise for the visitor with dollars, sterling, or francs. Meals at hotels or restaurants are half of what they would cost at the 14-crown rate. Such choice souvenirs as Bohemian glass and the lovely garnets are so inexpensive when bought at the generous new

rate it is difficult to resist filling one’s luggage with these typically Czechoslovakian handicrafts. Another step the Czechoslovakian Government took to lure ihore Western tourists was to ease border formalities. They went all the way. That is to say, they have eliminated entry, and exit forms, do not levy an airport tax, as do many countries, pass luggage without opening it, and will exchange Czech money for the original currency when the visitor starts for home. A visa is easily obtained, and even the person deciding at the last minute to visit Czechoslovakia may obtain bne at the border with a minimum of delay. In addition, the cost of petrol has been cut in half. ’ Visitors Welcomed The Czechs are happy to meet a visitor from the West. Usually they mistake an American for a Briton, but when they learn the person addressed is from the United States a genuine, friendly smile spreads across their face. Many of them, especially the older ones, prefer to ask questions rather than answer anything the visitor might ask about their politics. “How do things look here to you? Do you find us shabby? Will more Americans be coming to visit us? Why do they want to visit us? These are typical questions. Some I found willing to say outwardly they did not go along with many of the policies of the Government. But they did admit an easing of restrictions. U.S. Broadcast Jammed Although the “Voice of America” is being jammed so vociferously that it made the cloth screen billow in front of my radio, I was able to hear without interference a British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast from London and a United States Army radio station beamed from Nuremberg. Neither of these stations beamed any Western propaganda, merely straight news broadcasts.

When a Czech learned I was an American he stopped the automatic elevator between floors and asked about the United States. He did not hesitate to condemn the entire system he lived under and said he was “looking for a hole” to get out. He did admit, however, the last few years had seen improvement in economic conditions.

Food appeared to be plentiful in the stores but expensive when considered it is priced at the official rate of seven crowns to the dollar. Meat did not seem plentiful, and women queued for it A can of crushed pineapple, imported from Cuba, cost one dollar and found few takers. Prices for everything, of course, are set by the Government. That same can of pineapple in stores 200 miles apart would still cost the same. Throughout the country are a group of gift shops known as Tuzex where such souvenirs as Bohemian glass and garnets can be purchased. Again, no matter at which store one shops, the price for the items would be the same. No-one appears to work very hard in Czechoslovakia. The pace is slow. The political system discourages incentive, and this is most noticeable in the hotels. Service, while rendered courteously, is slow. The present hotels are hard pressed to take care of the demands. However, in November the new Solidarita Hotel in Prague will open. By 1970 the capital will have two international hotels. A 400-bed hotel will be built near the Czechoslovak Airlines city terminal; the other, accommodating 200, is to replace several old apartment houses near the historic old Jewish Cemetery. Unkempt Appearance As a whole I would say, except for the green fields of grain and the pastures cropped close by cattle, Czechoslovakia looked unkempt, uncared for. Grass is allowed either to go to seed in the parks or along the roadside or is harvested for some peasant's lone cow or sheep. Homes looked drab, too. One touching sight I shall long remember. It was near Cheb. Standing “alone" at the crossroads in the Bohem- 4 ian countryside was an obelisk. On it was inscribed the following:— “Here ended the victorious march of the First United States Infantry Division. The officers and men of the First United States Infantry Division who were killed in this period while fighting for the liberty of the world." Then the names of the men and their rank appeared on the sides. The touching sight was a small bouquet of lilacs placed at the base of the monument Someone had remembered.