Tourism is recovering after the global financial crunch, and some travel agencies feel the need to expand their services. A Czech travel agency came up with a rather odd idea – it offers trips for plush toys.

We have all got a favorite teddy bear from childhood. And we’d certainly admit to taking our stuffed companion away with us on holiday when we were small.
Few of us though would probably consider sending said teddy on holiday alone while we stayed at home to pay for it. They can’t exactly send us a postcard, can they?
But a newly formed Czech travel agency has spotted a soft-toy shaped gap in the market and is offering just that opportunity for ted to collect a few more stamps in his passport.

The Czech Toy Traveling agency is the first of its kind in the world to offer its clients tours for their plush animals, the Prague Daily Monitor reports. The first destination on the list for clients is Prague. But Budapest, Bratislava, Munich, Berlin and other European cities are soon to join in. A client orders a trip with the agency, transfers money and sends its darling to the selected destination. “In addition to amazing experiences, he will bring back home many great photos and other presents,” the agency promises on its website, sendyourdarling.com. A basic tour costs 90 Euros and includes a photo tour of Prague’s most notable tourist attractions, daily communication with the owner and a certificate.

For a fee of £80 to £130, your treasured toy can be whisked around the sights of Prague by ‘Toy Traveling – Travel Agency for Teddy bears and cuddly toys’ and have his photo taken in front of its landmarks.
And if you really want to treat your fluffy friend, you can opt for a more expensive package including a candle-lit massage from a viewpoint looking over the city’s famous Charles Bridge. Yes, really.
The website sendyourdarling.com is the brainchild of a 22-year-old decorator called Marek Hlavka who pitched the idea to a Dragon’s Den-style TV reality show in the Czech Republic just last month.

Quite what Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones et al would have made of the pitch we will never know, but the Czech businessmen were definitely ‘in’.
Businessman Tomio Okamura and former Czech minister for information technology Dana Berove have agreed an initial investment of £5,000 each.

For some reason, in their bid to conquer the teddy travel market the team will not be focusing their business on UK customers.
“As we start, we’re focusing on north American and Japanese markets, where there is a huge amount of people owning stuffed animals,” said Mr Okamura.
They must be doing something right. In the last week, the website has logged more than 15,000 visitors.
“We are very surprised with such a massive interest from clients both from here and from abroad – we really did not expect that,” Mr Hlavka said in an email.
One recurrent request has come from Japan where several toy owners are anxious to have snaps taken at a Bayern Munich match.
The massage package, administered by the healing hands of Mr Hlavka himself, is also popular. Particularly as this more expensive option includes a cushion and a duvet to provide a comfortable journey for the stuffed client to Prague and then back to its owner.

A luxury tour separate from the basic options includes photographed aromatherapy, massage and a photo album in a hard cover. The client is also advised to inform the agency if his cuddly toy is a vegetarian. “The owner might feel offended if we served alcohol or gave meat or other inappropriate food to his/her flush animal,” explained Tomio Okamura, co-owner of the agency.

The idea for the agency was inspired by the French movie “Amelie” directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, in which the main character sent a plaster gnome to a journey around the world and documented the gnome’s travel experiences in front of famous monuments.

Ridiculous, what more can we say .