In these difficult times, Slovakia has a new prime minister. Igor Matovič and his cabinet of ministers took over from Peter Pellegrini amid the biggest public health crisis Slovakia and the world has ever seen. The president Zuzana Čaputová appointed the cabinet of Igor Matovič on March 21. She acknowledged the people of Slovakia elected the government to make fundamental changes, but first, the government must make sure they protect the lives of as many people as possible. The president is very strong respected personality among Slovaks and tries to support them during the crisis also mentally.
Bratislava Tourist Board (BTB) is aware of how important is transparent communication nowadays and sharing the latest updates concerning COVID measures. BTB is continuing in its activities although most of the employees are working from home to protect their and public health. The Tourist Information Centre is closed but our colleagues are available on their phones and emails to answer all the questions (the sale of the Bratislava CARD at all sales points, as well as an online sale, is stopped).
The back-office departments are working also on updates of all materials (Meeting Planners Guide, website, revision of database of contacts) and actively searching for online education opportunities. With the heading „Become a tourist in your home town“ BTB started to launch brand new 15 videos with virtual tours presenting the tourist attractions in Bratislava. We all have to be as responsible as possible, as our only vaccine is the discipline.
You can see the videos and get all the other information on special microsite to COVID -19: www.visitbratislava.com/somdoma – here.
BTB, together with the 3 largest DMOs, is addressing the Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic (MTCSR) with recommendations to support employment, short-time working scheme and the possibility to implement the donated public resources with time-overlap into 2021. As a founding member of the Slovak Association of DMOs, we are addressing the government, Ministry of Economy and MTCSR suggesting measures to protect our industry and the feasibility of DMOs in general. In fact, we recommend to create an inter-disciplinary crisis committee for coordination the resuscitation, future support and further development of the industry.
For all meeting planners is it important to summarize the measures against spread of the coronavirus in Slovakia:
- With effect from 13. March 2020, the borders with all neighbouring countries are closed, as well as all 3 international airports and all international bus and rail connections were also cancelled.
- Only persons having a permanent or temporary residence and persons working in Slovakia can enter the country.
- All the tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and bars are closed (except of take away and delivery services).
- The schools are closed, the supermarkets are opened in special hours for seniors only and wearing of the face masks in the public places is a must.
- Experts expect the peak in early July, but measures will need to last for more weeks, they say.
Hope we see Bratislava full again very soon.
