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Industry and services

The Karlovy Vary Region is situated in the center of Europe and borders on the German Free States of Bavaria and Saxony. Its innermost potential presents a significant precondition for the positive future development of the whole region. The Karlovy Vary Region is the smallest of all fourteen local government units in the Czech Republic. The seat of the region is Karlovy Vary which is home to a number of regional institutions.

The structure of the regional economy is quite diverse. Many industries have been the traditional trademark of the Karlovy Vary Region (production of porcelain, glass and pottery, textile and clothing industry, automotive industry, production of foodstuffs and beverages, engineering and metal working, chemical industry and exploitation of minerals).

The Karlovy Vary Region is well-known for its long and rich industrial tradition, evidenced, among others, by the mining of a number of minerals whose origin goes back to the Middle Ages (e.g. tin, silver, kaolin, or brown coal), by the oldest porcelain factory in the Czech Republic that was established in 1792, or by chemical and textile production plants that were started during the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, etc.

The most dominant industrial area of the Karlovy Vary Region is the Sokolov Region which is home to several strategic industries such as the power industry, steam coal mining, chemical industry, engineering, textile and clothing industry and production of construction materials.

The Sokolov area is currently undergoing gradual economic restructuring aimed at new industrial sectors (electrical engineering and electronics) and prudent use of energy sources. Greater emphasis is put on the holiday industry and leisure activities of the local public and visitors. The transformation of the Sokolov area is accompanied with significant positive changes linked to landscape restoration, being part of the rehabilitation of worked-out brown coal mines (e.g. reclamation and revitalization of the landscape, comprising up to hundreds of hectares of lakes, golf courses, parks, residential areas, leisure activities and new business activities).

The manufacturing industry has been traditionally well-established in and near the cities of Ostrov (engineering, electrical engineering, wood processing and electrotechnical industry), Cheb (engineering, manufacturing of musical instruments, ceramic and construction materials) and Aš (textile and clothing industry, engineering). The processing of plastics represents a new industrial sector. The Kraslice area is well-known for the musical instrument brands Amati and Strunal, engineering and the textile industry.

The dominant economic position in the Karlovy Vary Region belongs to the spa business (the highest concentration of spa and balneology facilities and venues in the Czech Republic) and the related travel industry, transport and services. The region is proud to be home to the world-famous spa cities of Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, Františkovy Lázně, Lázně Kynžvart and the unique spa of Jáchymov. The spa business is closely connected with a significant volume of the travel industry that relies on the quality regional network of accommodation and boarding facilities most of which rank among high-quality establishments.  In addition to curative hot and cold springs, which predetermined the boom of spa service, the Karlovy Vary Region is unusually rich in natural mineral waters, the best known ones being distributed under the Mattoni, Magnezia and Korunní trademarks.