Zoo Tourism – A Typical Part of Central-European Travelling: An Example from Czechia

Summary Zoos are among the most visited tourist and leisure destinations. Moreover, for post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe, visits to zoos are typical. Unlike Western “capitalist” Europe, in post-socialist Europe there were for a long time almost no amusement parks and thanks to this zoos have been long-term key places of (urban) recreation. Due to the different historical developments, the zoos of Central and Eastern Europe differ in terms of time of establishment, location, and ownership compared to those in the west. The collapse of the socialist establishment had a fundamental impact on the future of zoos. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, there was a sharp drop in zoo attendance in the countries of today’s post-socialist Europe, but since the mid-1990s after large innovations, it has been rising again, reaching record highs. The period after 1990 allowed private ownership and brought about the development of private zoos and further expanded forms of zoo tourism. Information © The Author 2025