Prague is a popular destination not only for tourists, for other stakeholders too. Foreigners from all over the world has been coming to Prague for various purposes – to study, work, do business or reunite with their families. Number of foreigners living in Prague has been increasing every year intensively since the fall of Iron curtain. Prague has become a cosmopolitan city where many cultures and nationalities live side by side. Consequently, this study explores why foreigners move to Prague, what role Prague plays in their decision process to move there and how they perceive Prague as a city. This study is conducted within the conceptual framework of mobilities paradigm, as it allows the researcher to view tourism holistically. This perspective enables the researcher to study foreigners´ motivations and perceptions in the context of tourism even though they might not be officially considered tourists. Hereby, they are perceived as residents. City branding, attractiveness, competitiveness and city image are topics which are vastly discussed in academic literature concerning tourism. In this study, these terms are crucial in order to investigate perceptions of Prague´s city image of foreigners´ living in the city. Nevertheless, the topic of city image is seen from alternative perspective which is not widely spread in the academic literature about tourism. The thesis strives to apply community involvement approach in order to explore foreigners as residents of Prague and their motivations and perceptions.
For the purpose of this study, mixed methods were applied to achieve results which would be accurate to answer formulated problem statement. Firstly, qualitative interviews were conducted with selected group of foreigners living in Prague. Secondly, quantitative questionnaire was distributed in order to reach wider sample of foreigners living in Prague. The findings from both parts of the research were analysed in order to reach conclusions, and be able to reflect on the researched questions established in the beginning of the research. It was discovered that foreigners living in the city have positive perception of Prague as their city of residence. Furthermore, it was retrieved that foreigners move to Prague for various reasons, including quality universities, good job opportunities or to reunite with their families. They also want to live in Prague for the city itself. Finally, findings of the study confirmed that Prague plays significant role in foreigners´ decision process to move to the city.