The 1.3 million Prague natives are used to welcoming guests from all over the world. Prior to the pandemic, they registered some nine million tourists per year, ranking this “Golden City“ with the Prague Castle and the famous Charles Bridge among the top 25 city destinations throughout the entire world. The city owes its title to the sandstone towers gleaming golden in sunlight and to emperor Charles IV, who had the towers of the Prague Castle plated in gold. Buildings from the Gothic and Baroque eras characterize the Czech capital as do the 13 bridges spanning the Vltava river. At the southerly river bend lie the historic Hradčany and Vyšehrad districts classified as UNESCO-World Heritage Sites. Historians acknowledge that Prague in the 14th century was one of the outstanding political and cultural European centers; the Charles University founded in 1348 was the first university to be established in Central Europe. In 2022, the Czech Republic aka “Land of Stories” is reinventing itself as “Country of the Future”. The new strategy pursued by Prague City Tourism is focused on sustainable tourism, on the balance of economic benefits with the strategic interest of the city. This also encompasses the segment of congresses, which in Prague prior to the Covid pandemic were attended by 700,000 persons per year, who on average spent three times as much money in Prague as regular tourists. But that's not the only benefit, the congress industry also brings significant non-economic impacts, as it fosters the transfer of know-how to and from the Czech Republic. "We want to position Prague as an inspiring, innovative and sustainable meeting destination worldwide," said Hana Krejbichová from the Prague Convention Bureau, which supports planners with organizing their events. The marketing and PR manager cites the strategic goal of positioning Prague as an innovative business destination and world leader in selected strategic areas, as well as increasing investment and supporting the development of the MICE industry. Prague experts consider meetings, conferences, events and exhibitions to be levers to increase their competitiveness. "Prague is really focused on this, on many technologies and organizations that build networks such as prg.ai," Krejbichová stated.

Transforming Prague into an AI hub

The initiative prg.ai was founded in 2019 in partnership with the city in order to transform Prague into a significant European hub for Artificial Intelligence. As AI is consistently gaining in significance for the business and educational sectors, people in Prague are seeking to create a platform enabling the local AI-scene to establish an "innovation ecosystem" designated to promote ideas and solutions to the benefit of all. The founders of prg.ai originate from the Czech Technical University, Charles University, and the Czech Academy of Sciences. AI-related research in Prague dates back to the early 1960s.

Over the past 25 years, the emphasis on academic AI research and development has been further strengthened, e.g. by the establishment of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics in 2012 at the Czech Technical University which is more than 300 years old. Here is where Dr. Libor Přeučil some 25 years ago founded the Intelligent and Mobile Robotics Group active in both basic research and applied cutting-edge research with a focus on the design and development of intelligent mobile robots and self-guided vehicles; its reference list includes industry giants such as Skoda Auto.

“Robotics and machine learning are technologies that are not new. New is advanced robotics, intelligent robots which can help you to handle uncertainty and fulfil complex tasks,” Přeučil explained. He predicts that intelligent service robots are up and coming, a trend driven by considerable competitional power and favorably-priced technology. "When we started these mobile robots and built our first autonomous robots, it was at the price of a nice BMW. Nowadays you can buy similar solutions, for example a vacuum cleaner for 500 euros. Evolution here is very fast." Today, the tasks are getting more complex, once you run a neural net you need powerful computers to be able to get the decision in time and to solve much more complex problems.

The information scientist sees the Czech Republic in the “group of countries that is visible in the field of advanced robotics.” Přeučil is proud that he was able to win the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2021 for Prague, even if the event was relocated to the internet owing to the pandemic. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Přeučil, who already in 2017 was appointed Congress Ambassador by the Prague Convention Bureau in recognition of his candidature for IROS 2021. Přeučil and his colleagues predominantly speak at scientific congresses and at best to promising communities with a problem that could bring them some business. As to deploying robots at conferences, he can envision these being assigned to registering and informing attendees, cleaning tables and serving drinks. Přeučil: “Maybe you can use these technologies to make a difference, to wow people by getting served by robots and to attract their attention, but don’t rely on that: to advance these applications to enabling them to make a reasonable part of organizing or running the conference will need a lot of time, funding, and manpower. We're certainly not there yet.”

Intelligent hosts

Přeučil visions are already being put to test at the Orea Hotel Pyramida the little robot Pepper gave a helping hand at the front desk. The business hotel opened in the 1980's refurbished its 340 rooms; room prices start at € 60 including breakfast. There's a 520 sqm conference room, several meeting rooms, and an adjacent cinema auditorium seating 377 persons. The hotel weathered the pandemic well, and meeting business has been picking up pace again this April. Hybrid events are not greatly in demand, in contrast to innovative technologies. Orea, with 18 hotels the biggest Czech hotel chain, has a pilot project on-going in Prague: a self-serviced hotel with 14 rooms. Should the project go well, plans call for an 80-room establishment to be opened. The international hotel chain Hilton has two operations in the Czech capital: the Hilton Prague and the Hilton Prague Old Town. The Hilton Prague holds available some 5,000 sqms of space for events of all kinds; a congress hall for 1,350 persons, a ballroom for 800 guests, and 38 meeting rooms. Management just recently invested half a million euros into modern technologies. The hotel features 791 refurbished rooms, three restaurants and two bars, of which the Cloud 9 Sky Bar & Lounge may be rented for unique events. This applies also to the impressive lobby with its 40-meter-high atrium. Its 800 roof glass panels have been replaced in context with renovation work and are now have better heat reflecting properties. "Our carbon footprint is important to us", said Marketa Sebkova. She’s responsible for marketing, and in that function advocates the Hilton campaign "Carbon Neutral Business Meetings“.

“We had 95% of all renovation work completed, and then the pandemic stopped us”, said General Manager Michael Specking. The German has been living in Prague for 15 years and he knows his way around in this industry. His typical meeting business has between 500 and 600 delegates and three hotel nights. Prague's main competitors are Barcelona, Vienna and Berlin, with Prague being highly competitive in rates. Specking is well aware that his business depends strongly on developments in Eastern Europe, as many of his clients are corporate planners from the USA. The war in Ukraine is omnipresent owing to the Ukrainian workforce members, company staff has organized an aid transport and also sponsors a refugee shelter. A Ukrainian national has been managing the sister hotel Hilton Prague Old Town since March of this year. This operation is located in the historic part of town; decorated in Art-Déco style, it has 303 rooms, 14 meeting rooms and a ballroom with foyer.

Elegance, luxury and lifestyle are attributes best describing the Andaz Prague opened on March 1. It is also located in the historic center of Prague in what was formerly the Sugar Palace. The 5-star establishment and its 180 rooms have been inspired by local culture. The lobby is just the right place for meeting and working. As an alternative, there are five rooms suited for board meetings, for conferences with up to 72 attendees or cocktail receptions with 100 guests.