Prague zoo attracts most tourists in 2010

Prague, Aug 8 (CTK) - The zoo in Prague was the most popular tourist destination in the Czech Republic in 2010 when 1.18 million people visited it, followed by Prague Castle (1.12 million) and the Aquapalace swimming pool complex in Prague (805,000), according to a survey by the CzechTourism agency.

The order of the top three tourist destinations has not changed since 2009.

The number of visitors to Czech castles and chateaus slightly decreased, while technical sights attracted more tourists last year, shows the survey.

The fourth and fifth top Czech sights were the Jewish Museum and the National Museum, both in Prague.

"The number of visitors to tourist destinations in 2010 was almost the same as in 2009," CzechTourism head Rostislav Vondruska said.

However, he added, this year's figures are more optimistic.

CzechTourism expects a record attendance at many sights thanks to a quite cold summer weather and a high number of foreign tourists.

The highest rise in attendance was reported in Aquapalace Prague, which welcomed 45,000 more people than a year before.

In the group of castles and chateaus, Prague Castle was followed by the Lednice chateau, south Moravia, in the UNESCO-listed Lednice-Valtice complex, with 325,000 visitors.

Out of technical sights, the Petrin outlook tower in Prague was the most popular with 354,000 visits, which is about 30,000 more that in 2009.

In the category of natural heritage, the highest number of tourists saw the Punkevni caves and Macocha abyss in the Moravian Karst, south Moravia, in 2010.