Journal of Tourism and Services - Vysoká škola obchodní v Praze

Tourist Guides Services in the Czech
Republic with View to Development of their
Professional Competences in Comparison
with International Practice
Petr Houška
University of Business in Prague
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to analyse and characterize the main facts influencing the
development and current status of tourist guide´s activities in tourism. Changing
social, economic and political conditions after 1989 greatly influenced the development
of tourism in former Czechoslovakia, resp. the Czech Republic. A separate
part of the article concerns Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union
and involvement of its tourism market to the EU internal market in line with
the principles of its functioning. The analysis of past and current status in the given
area, identifying the main problems and generalizing conclusions are the parts
of this contribution.
Key words: Czech Republic, European Union, Czech and European legislation,
tourist guide, tourist guides activities, training and professional competences of
tourist guides.
1. Introduction
One of the first phases after 1989, which started a comprehensive
process of privatization in Czechoslovakia was the so-called small
privatization. It helped to rebuild the business sector, which practically
did not exist in former Czechoslovakia. This privatization was mainly
focused on transfers of retail and service establishments from the state
property to other, non-state subjects. The legal background for this
process was the Act No. 427/1990 Coll. “On Transfers of State Ownership
of Certain Things to Other Legal or Natural Persons“ [18] approved by the
Czechoslovak Federal Assembly. The new acquirer gained the property
ownership only for cash by bidding at a public auction. The subject of the
auction was the property (i.e. own establishment, including equipment
and goods), the eventual commitments were not transferred to the new
acquirer – the commitments remained in the mothers company, but this
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