2024, a Record Year for Tourism in Hungary

Last year was a new record year for domestic tourism, never before have so many people travelled to Hungary from abroad, never before have so many domestic guests stayed within the country's borders and never before has so much revenue been generated by hotels, Zoltán Guller, President of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ), said at a press conference on Monday, assessing the preliminary results of tourism in 2024.

He added that the increase in the number of overnight stays in Hungary exceeded the EU average by 150%, and the country outperformed its competitors in all indicators.

Last year, Hungary's accommodation facilities welcomed more tourists than ever before, with 18 million, an 11% increase compared to 2023, including 9.3 million domestic and 8.7 million foreign visitors.

Of the 44.2 million overnight stays by tourists, the ratio of nationals to foreigners is roughly 50-50.

The President highlighted data-driven tourism decision-making, influencer campaigns and the Hungarian ownership of Budapest Airport as reasons for the outstanding results. Last year, Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport handled roughly 17 million passengers according to preliminary data, an increase of more than 17%, he noted.

He added that the new record year 2024 results were largely due to the capital's explosive performance.

Last year, Budapest attracted almost six million foreign tourists, with an all-time high growth of 24%. The revenue of service providers in Budapest increased by 20%, he said, noting that this is important because the capital accounts for 60% of all overnight stays by foreigners in Hungary.