At the end of September, the monuments of NPÚ were visited by 5 million people, roughly the same as last year

Prague - Castles and chateaux managed by the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) were visited by 5.167 million visitors by the end of September this year. The five-million mark was thus reached for the second consecutive time, NPÚ director Naďa Goryczková told reporters today. Last year, the institute published its first statistics after the main season at the end of October, when the number of visitors was 5.4 million. In the entire last year, a record 5.6 million people visited the hundred state castles, chateaux, and other monuments.

NPÚ expects that the remaining months of the year could bring in another half a million people, bringing visitor numbers closer to last year's figures.

The highest number of visitors this year was recorded from May to September. In July and August alone, there were over 2.6 million visits, 300,000 more than in 2016. In contrast, visitor numbers were lower in September and June compared to last year, with 250,000 fewer visitors to the monuments.

"We appreciate every visitor, but it's not decisive for us; what matters to us are the revenues, which constitute half of our budget. We slightly adjusted our methodology and reporting of visitor numbers, which is why we are seeing slightly lower numbers for some sites," the director stated. While last year visitors to accompanying programs were included, this year only those who went through the visitor circuit are counted. Thus, the total visitor count since the beginning of the year is over five million; after deducting accompanying events and extraordinary tours, it stands at 4,989,500 visits, she noted.

According to the director, NPÚ's own revenues exceeded 477 million crowns by the end of September, which is an increase of 26 million crowns compared to the same period last year. Most of the revenue comes from ticket sales, but profits from filming have decreased. Interest has dropped by 44 percent, which is nominally about six million crowns, the director added. NPÚ allocates its revenues to the reconstruction of monuments and improving visitor facilities.

In addition to the most popular monuments, which are visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, the heritage professionals were surprised by the interest in two lesser-known sites, Milotice Castle and Vranov nad Dyjí, whose revenues increased by up to 30 percent.

Traditionally, the highest visitor numbers are recorded at the castles of Lednice and Český Krumlov; by the end of September, Lednice was visited by over 400,000 people. Hluboká has so far attracted more than a quarter of a million visitors.