Prague’s Holiday World 2026 concludes today, spotlighting post-pandemic business travel and new Schengen border technologies

Prague’s PVA Expo centre is busier than at any point since the pandemic as the Holiday World 2026 trade fair draws to a close (12-14 March). More than 600 exhibitors—from national tourism boards and airline alliances to relocation specialists and conference-venue operators—have used the three-day event to court Czech corporates hungry for fresh mobility options after two years of volatile air-capacity and ever-shifting visa rules. A dominant theme of this year’s fair has been the practical impact of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), which becomes mandatory at all external Schengen borders on 10 April.



For organisations still deciphering what the EES and tightening consular quotas mean for business travel, VisaHQ offers a one-stop digital platform that streamlines visa checks and applications for Czech and global destinations alike. Through its dashboard at https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/ employers can pre-qualify travellers, monitor processing times and arrange secure document couriers—saving mobility teams hours of manual follow-up as regulations evolve.

Airlines demonstrated biometric e-gates while travel-management companies ran workshops on how Czech passport-holders and third-country assignees will clear borders once passport stamps disappear. Prague Airport, which will pilot six facial-recognition kiosks next month, told delegates it expects average queuing times for non-EU travellers to fall by 35 percent once staff and passengers adapt to the new workflow. Conference sessions also drilled into the Czech government’s digital-first immigration reform slated for 2027. Officials from the Interior Ministry’s Alien Police and Asylum Department—due to merge into a single Immigration Service—outlined plans to cut residence-permit processing times from 270 days to 120 days. Employers welcomed the pledge but warned that interim quotas at Czech consulates such as Dresden’s current “zero quota” for employee cards could prolong talent shortages. For mobility managers, the most immediate takeaway was the rebound in regional air connectivity. Czech Airlines confirmed it will restore its Prague–Seoul route in May, and Lufthansa partners signalled that the 12-13 March ground-staff strike had cancelled just four departures from Prague, all of which were re-protected within 24 hours. Rail operators were equally bullish: RegioJet announced a summer timetable that will give Prague its first direct overnight service to the Italian port city of Bari, creating a rail-to-ferry corridor for assignees heading to the Balkans. Exhibitors reported brisk deal-making. According to preliminary figures from organiser ABF, the fair logged over 3,400 pre-scheduled B2B meetings—up 18 percent on 2025—and closed with provisional contracts worth CZK 730 million (≈ EUR 29 million). If even half are finalised, industry observers say Holiday World will cement its role as Central Europe’s go-to marketplace not only for leisure operators but also for companies orchestrating complex cross-border assignments.