Tourism Numbers Decline
Hungary’s tourism revenues fell 30% last year, while hotel bookings reached record heights. Central funding for tourism has recently been scarce, but EU subsidies can make up for the shortage.
Revenues surplus in tourism dropped 32% to €647 million in the first nine months of 2004, according to recent figures from the National Bank of Hungary. At the same time, hotels received 10% more visitors than a year before, and all Budapest hotels were fully booked at New Year’s Eve. Hotels’ revenues surged 13% in 2004. “Following four years of drop, the occupancy of hotels started growing; it reached 47.7% last year,” said Ákos Niklai, chairman of the Hungarian Hotels Association.
Domestic tourism has been declining recently. “One of the reasons for the falling numbers is that state institutions paid their employees less for making holidays, furthermore, in 2004, Christmas days fell on a weekend, so it was more difficult to set up a longer holiday,” said Gabriella Molnár, chairman of the Association of Hungarian Travel Organizers and Agents.
Between 2004 and 2006, the EU provides Hungary a total of HUF 28 billion to be spent on developing tourist attractions.
