Karlovy Vary Region

Karlovy Vary embodies the paradox of thermal gradient economics: mineral springs that powered centuries of spa prosperity now coexist uneasily with coal extraction's decline. The region generates 4.5% of its gross value added from tourism—highest in Czechia—with one in twelve workers (10,800 people) employed directly in hospitality. Visitors stay 4.67 days on average, far exceeding other regions, because spa treatments require extended residence. This extended-stay model creates deeper economic integration than typical tourism. But the region also hosts Sokolovská uhelná, a major coal company undergoing the same Just Transition pressures as Moravian-Silesia. The 2021 UNESCO designation of 'Great Spa Towns of Europe' provides a moat around the wellness economy, but cannot protect against environmental degradation from mining that threatens the very mineral waters tourists seek. Karlovy Vary's future depends on resolving this metabolic contradiction: extraction industries that undermine the natural capital supporting service industries.