For young people here, tourism mostly means work — more of it, and more choice in what kind. There's more to do now too: more places to play sports, more places to swim.
Honestly, though, she's quick to point out that the political and economic changes of the last decade reshaped her life far more than tourism ever has on its own.
Still, some real developments trace back to tourism directly. As the new economic situation took hold, Czech refugees who'd left under communism began returning — and brought back with them a version of the old culture her generation had genuinely never heard of.
Old churches were restored as a result, and the region's open-air museum got a real boost. Once it became clear that tourists cared about their culture and monuments too, it sparked something like a genuine revival — and made the whole region noticeably more beautiful in the process.
“Old churches were restored, and our open-air museum got a real boost — that's when we realised the tourists cared about our culture too.”
Her own life has changed mostly through meeting foreigners. It's kept her current on fashion and trends, sure, but it's also taught her about culture and everyday life in places she'd otherwise never know.
Travel now runs both ways — her family has made friends abroad, and they've started travelling themselves too. Learning new values from outside has, if anything, deepened her appreciation for her own culture rather than replacing it.
She's glad tourism has widened the range of courses on offer locally too — internet skills, languages, that kind of thing.
Tourists themselves, in her experience, tend to be genuinely nice, curious people, drawn mainly by the culture and by what the region's nature has to offer.
Her advice to them: consider staying with a private host instead of a hotel. Parents here used to build a small apartment next to the family house for their grown children. Now that young people have more choice, most prefer living independently — leaving those apartments standing empty, and increasingly rented out to tourists instead. A quiet way, she says, to help an older generation out.