The Danube embankment is crucial to travel agencies in Bratislava. (source: TASR)
Hundreds of tourists used to get off buses every day in front of the Park Inn hotel on the Vajanské Nábrežie embankment. However, ever since the outer lane of the four-lane road was transformed into a cycling route, the short-term parking space for buses is no more.
Coming from the direction of Ružinov borough, buses bringing tourists to the centre for tours or to the hotel are forced to stop at the Malá Scéna bus stop located one kilometre away, or turn around at the Riverpark locality and return to the centre so that they can stop on the opposite side of the road near the hotel.
Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with this City Guide! (source: Spectacular Slovakia)
According to the Slovak Association of Travel Agencies (SACKA), many of the traffic changes that appeared in Bratislava at the end of last summer have caused complications for travel agencies: negatively affecting the comfort of tourists and ultimately reducing tourism in the capital.
In particular, travel agencies and hoteliers are reproaching the city council for the unpredictability. "The changes have one common denominator, namely that they were not communicated in advance. A professional discussion could have gone a long way towards avoiding it," says Marcela Lauková, president of the Incoming Travel Agencies Club.
The council claims that changes in traffic are communicated with the affected parties and that it cares about tourism in the capital. "In connection with the changes at the embankment, the only bus that ceased to exist was in front of the Park INN hotel. All other places have been preserved," says Bratislava's spokesperson Peter Bubla.
Tourist carriers have been offered a bus stop at the Malá Scéna theatre, and parking spaces for the loading and unloading of passengers for tourist buses at the Suché Mýto locality near the Presidential Palace.
Attractive Bratislava
"First of all, the goal of the traffic solutions being implemented in Bratislava is to build high-quality infrastructure for as many different modes of transport as possible, which all residents can effectively use according to individual needs and preferences," explains the city's spokesperson, explaining why motorised transport is no longer prioritised at the embankment.
A positive experience of the city should be made up of something else.
