Vliv pandemie COVID-19 na zaměstnanost v lázeňství v Karlovarském kraji

The aim of this diploma thesis is to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spa industry in the Karlovy Vary region with the main focus on employment in spas. This thesis examines what influence the pandemic and the state restrictions had on the functioning of spa facilities, what measures the spas had to take towards their employees and which state support programs were used most by the spas. The first part of the thesis describes how the spread of the COVID-19 virus affected the world and what the impact of the pandemic on tourism companies and specifically on the spas was. Then, the forms of employment commonly used in tourism are characterized and the possible reactions of the employers to the spread of the pandemic are described. The next part of the thesis presents the state support programs that were available to the spa facilities. The following chapter introduces statistics and surveys concerning the labour market in the Czech Republic, as well as research that has already been conducted regarding employment in tourism and in the spa industry. Then, the situation in the Karlovy Vary region is described in terms of employment and the fundamental importance of tourism and spas in this region is explained. To fulfil the goal of the diploma thesis, a research was conducted by interviewing representatives of spa facilities located in the Karlovy Vary region. The answers to the research questions set out in the introduction of the diploma thesis were assessed. The hypotheses concerning the operation of the spa facilities from the beginning of the pandemic, employment in spas in the Karlovy Vary region and use of state support programs, which were formulated on the basis of secondary sources, were confirmed or refuted. The findings of this research are described in the last chapter of the thesis.