Yesterday afternoon, the City of Brno and the South Moravian Region launched the 2025 tourist season with the opening of a combined information centre, on Zámečnická street in the heart of Brno city centre. As of yesterday, the new centre, only a few metres from náměstí Svobody, is the first stop for visitors who wish to get information and purchase souvenirs.
A new hub for tourist information
“The centre will serve as the main point of information for visitors to the entire region and will provide a comprehensive service for tourists and residents,” said the governor of the South Moravian Region, Jan Grolich. “It is not just a place with maps, but an open platform for tourists and locals.”
The new information centre will replace the one on Panenská, which opened in 2017. “The city and TIC BRNO have for a long time been looking for a suitable space for an information centre that would be closer to visitors, ideally in the very centre of the city, of sufficient size, and which could serve as a place to meet and relax,” said 1st Deputy Mayor René Černý. “For this purpose, we have renovated unused historical spaces on Zámečnická. The total cost of building and equipping the new information centre is 12 million crowns including VAT.”
CZK 2 million of this cost was for construction work, covered by subsidies from the South Moravian Region, and just under CZK 2 million was the cost of interior equipment and technology, shared equally by TIC BRNO and the South Moravian Central Tourism Office. The remainder of the cost was paid by the City of Brno.
The modern clean space, by the Brno studio Kogaa, opens up to the street thanks to new protruding glass windows – the lowered window sills increase transparency, attract passers-by and strengthen the connection with the street outside. The interior consists of a multifunctional space combining the reception, sales area, work area and exhibition area into a single sculptural whole. Brno company DURO design created a custom-made modular system with an emphasis on economy, the main element of which is perforated stainless steel panels with anodized titanium finish. Their surfaces react to light and movement, creating a changing atmosphere. By connecting the functions of the information centre with the exterior design of the building, including the reconstruction of the facade and the surrounding area, the project aspires to be an example of high-quality revitalization of similar buildings in the historical centre of Brno.
2025: A Bumper Year For Brno Tourism
Representatives of the city and region used yesterday’s opening to share news and plans in the field of tourism. This year is an important year for tourism in Brno, which will see the city present itself at the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition in Osaka, Japan, and the return of the prestigious Brno MotoGP race.
As part of the #BrnoTrueStory campaign, TIC BRNO continues to promote architecture and Brno’s underground. Summer in Brno will once again provide the combination of a pleasant lively centre with great gastronomy and an array of music festivals.
“The events we have planned either directly complement the atmosphere of the city centre, such as Uprostřed, Brazil Fest Brno, and the Brno Music Marathon, or lead visitors to other interesting places in Brno, such as the Pop Messe festival at the velodrome and the Brno Exhibition Centre, or the Groove Brno festival, taking place at the Brno Dam for the first time this year,” said the director of TIC BRNO, Jana Janulíková. “We will start this summer with the Brno Art Open festival, which will create a gallery in the city accessible to all lovers of fine arts, including artists such as Vendula Chalánková and TIMA.”
Along with the organizers of Brno’s festivals, TIC BRNO are again preparing special offers for additional experiences in the city, such as the popular Žlutý Kopec Reservoirs. “As part of communicating Brno as a destination, we continue to take an authentic approach and focus on local experiences, presenting Brno phenomena, and engaging Brno cultural communities,” said Janulíková. “These characteristics are also the pillars of the new representative information centre.”
A new feature will be the Brno Match web application, which will ask visitors questions about their interests and recommend places to visit accordingly.
Cooperation with the South Moravian Region
April is the month when tourists also start to flock to South Moravia in larger numbers. The South Moravian Central Tourism Office (CCRJM) will present information about destinations throughout the region in the new information centre.
“This year, we want to focus primarily on cycling,” said Martina Grůzová, director of CCRJM. “We will attract Polish visitors with the combination of wine and architecture – we have already translated the successful campaign connecting wine-growing locations with the interesting architecture of individual wineries into Polish. We are targeting visitors from Slovakia with MojaKarta, which we piloted in the Czech Republic last year, and which has proven to be a tool for cooperation and promotion of even lesser-known tourist destinations.”
Brno at EXPO 2025
Brno is an official partner of EXPO 2025, with a financial contribution of CZK 3.6 million, and will present itself in Osaka as a centre of science and culture with a number of locations attractive to tourists, according to Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková. The city will connect to EXPO visitors primarily online, through a video in Japanese focusing on three Brno personalities of global importance – Leoš Janáček, Alfons Mucha, and Gregor Johann Mendel.
“The video is interactive and uses personalization elements, which we expect to make it more attractive and viral,” said Kateřina Jarošová, Brno City Representative for Marketing and PR. “The on site presentation of the City of Brno will take place in the Czech pavilion from 16-18 June and will be focused on Japanese tour operators, travel agencies, journalists, influencers and other important figures from the field of culture with the aim of increasing the number of visitors from Japan.”
Alongside the City of Brno, the city companies Technické sítě Brno a.s., and Veletrhy Brno a.s. will also be presenting in Osaka.
MotoGP returns to Brno
After a five-year break, the MotoGP, both a prestigious sporting event and a key driver of tourism and economic development in the region, is returning to the Brno circuit. Motorcycle racing has a long tradition in Brno, dating back to 1965. The Masaryk Circuit has attracted tens of thousands of visitors to MotoGP in the past – in 2019, the race was visited by around 180,000 spectators.
MotoGP generates significant economic benefits thanks to visitors from the Czech Republic and abroad. The race also makes Brno visible on a global level – the television broadcasts are watched by hundreds of millions of viewers in more than 200 countries. The city and the region will each contribute CZK 35 million to hosting the event, while the media value may exceed the investment many times over.
