Tourism Likely to Return to Growth in the CEE Region

Tourism in the Central and Eastern European region is back on the rise this summer, despite rising hotel prices, global inflation and a war in the neighborhood, with travel increasing in every country in the region, with nine out of ten people planning to travel in 2022, mostly within the region, according to the latest Szállás (‘Accommodation’) Group regional research.

In a statement sent to the state news agency MTI, the Group’s CEO, József Szigetvári said that based on their latest regional research conducted in cooperation with Nielsen, the propensity to travel has increased to more than 90% in all countries of the region (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania). The propensity of guests to organize their own domestic travel increased by 7-18%. There has also been a change in preferred types of accommodation, with the coronavirus epidemic leading to a rise in ‘non-totalization’, with many people opting for detached, private apartments and guest houses rather than hotels and B&Bs.

Digitalization is increasingly important. Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe has shifted towards online bookings, with the share of online gross booking value increasing from 27% to 56% in domestic tourism and from 40% to 65% in inbound tourism between 2014 and 2022, he added. They estimate that by 2026, the share of online gross booking value will increase from 56% to 63% in the domestic market and from 65% to 97% in the inbound tourism segments.

Google's industry manager, Anna Moldován outlined some of the trends in regional travel search in the release. Tourism is back on an upward trajectory, with data showing that domestic searches in the tourism and accommodation categories are now above 2019 levels across the region this year. Cross-border travel and tourism-related searches in East-Central Europe rose 41% between March and April, following a sharp drop in late February at the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Google searches show that the most popular destination in Hungary is Lake Balaton, while in the Czech Republic, searches for tourist attractions are on the rise. In Poland, demand for agrotourism is on the rise. He added that the number of trips between countries in the region is expected to increase further this year.