In July, eighty per cent of the 6.4 million overnight stays in Hungary were in the countryside. Among them, Lake Balaton stands out, achieving an 11 per cent growth compared to the same period in the record year of 2019, as highlighted in the latest tourism statistics released by the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ) on Monday.
The positive tourism results in July were to a large extent the result of
the robust recovery of inbound tourism.
Compared to July last year, nearly a fifth more foreign guests, totalling 900,000, stayed in various types of accommodation in Hungary.
According to data from the National Tourism Data Centre (NTAK), in July this year, 2.2 million guests overnighted in the country, representing a four per cent increase compared to the previous year and a thirteen per cent increase compared to July in the record year of 2019. These guests accounted for a total of 6.4 million overnight stays, which was only one per cent less than the same period last year but surpassed the July 2019 record by six per cent. About twenty per cent of these overnight stays, totalling 1.3 million, were linked to Budapest, while in the Balaton tourism region, tourists spent 2.2 million nights during the second month of the summer.
Virtually all domestic guest traffic was directed to the countryside of Hungary, resulting in a twenty per cent increase compared to July 2019. In the Balaton tourism region, the nearly half a million domestic guests who visited in July generated an even larger, almost thirty per cent increase in domestic guest traffic.
The ‘Hungarian Sea’ also attracted around 150,000 foreign tourists. Compared to July last year, fourteen per cent more foreign guests visited Lake Balaton.
In July, more than 640,000 visitors were registered by Lake Balaton service providers.
This was only one per cent lower than the result in July last year but nearly twenty-five per cent higher than the record year of 2019.
Among foreigners, there was a significant increase in arrivals in Budapest, with 440,000 more visitors compared to July 2022, while the countryside also welcomed thirteen per cent more visitors, totalling around 400,000 foreign tourists. The nationwide total of 2.5 million international overnight stays exceeded July 2021 values by thirteen per cent.
Thanks to the strong traffic, accommodation revenues also increased in July compared to the same period last year. The largest increase, twenty-two per cent, was in the capital city, where service providers generated revenues of 34 billion HUF, while nationwide, Hungarian accommodation providers recorded revenues of 109 billion HUF during the middle of the summer season.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/MTÜ/MTI
