Tourism Firm Expectations Above the National Average

Expectations among companies operating in Hungary’s tourism sector exceeded the national economic average in April; according to the performance expectations index, they are in a more favorable position than any other sector — according to the latest survey conducted by the National Association of Tourism and Hospitality Employers (VIMOSZ) in collaboration with GKI Economic Research, the findings of which were reported to MTI on Monday.

The tourism business climate index (tki) stood at minus 5 points in April (on a scale ranging from -100 to +100), which means that industry players perceived their situation as slightly negative. Following a significant rise over the previous two months, the index value declined slightly in the fourth month of the year, though it remains 1 point higher than a year ago. In the accommodation sector, the index fell by 6 points over the month, while in the food service and other tourism sectors, the index rose by 2 points each.

In April, the tourism business climate index exceeded the service sector business climate index (-7 points) measured by GKI in its business climate survey for the EU, the GKI business confidence index representing the national economic average (-9 points), as well as the indices for industry (-7 points), construction (-22 points), and trade (-13 points).

According to the survey, the tourism performance expectations index (measuring the number of guest nights in accommodation services, the number of guests in the hospitality sector, and the number of guests/customers/bookings in other tourism sectors, depending on the activity) fell by 1 point to +6 points in April, meaning the index value was lower than in April of last year (+8 points). At the same time, it exceeded the service sector index measured in GKI’s economic survey for the EU (-5 points), significantly surpassed the national economic average (-20 points) and the trade average (-19 points), and even more significantly exceeded the averages for construction (-35 points) and industry (-26 points).

According to analysts, this indicates that, in terms of performance, tourism companies are currently in a more favorable position than companies operating in the service sector, and are also in a much more favorable position than companies operating in other sectors.