Hungarian Tourism Said to Have Closed a Successful Year

Hungarian tourism closed the year with a much better result than last year. That is according to the CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ), Zoltán Guller who talked about the results in a podcast published this Monday.

Zoltán Guller explained the upturn mainly by the increase in domestic turnover, as three quarters of the guests came from Hungary. The almost 29 million guest nights represent an increase of 24% compared to 2020, and rural hosts had a very successful year, with record-breaking summer traffic, he added.

Foreign visitors are growing at a slower pace but steadily, with the end of the year expected to bring significant international traffic to Budapest. Interestingly, he said, the capital's visitor base has changed slightly, with more and more visitors from the Czech Republic, Austria, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. In the countryside, it is mainly Germans who come as foreign visitors.

He was of the view that in 2022, hotel revenues in the country could reach HUF 360 billion, up 36% on last year. Hospitality revenue could reach HUF 1,000 billion, 22% more than in 2020 and just 8% less than the record set in 2019, Zoltán Guller said.

He also referred to the satisfaction indicators collected from social media. According to the feedback, he said, the most active reviewers were Americans and British. The vast majority of them wrote positive comments about their experience in Hungary, but the reviews also showed that other guests left satisfied.

The CEO is looking forward to 2022 mainly because of tourism developments and international events. The goal for Hungarian tourism next year should be to match the results of 2019, he added.