Kis-Balaton Visitor Center Opens

A new visitor center, built for about HUF 1.2 billion, has been inaugurated in the swampy Kis-Balaton area near the town of Keszthely, just southwest of Lake Balaton in western Hungary.

In addition to a network of 186 educational trails, nearly 1,000 kilometers long in total, the National Park Directorates also operate 64 demonstration sites, 33 visitor centers, four arboretums and 40 tourist caves. In addition, young people can learn about the country's rich natural heritage in 15 forest schools.

The number of visitors to the national parks of Hungary now exceeds 1.6 million per year, and the huge interest requires continuous development. The Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate (BFNPI) has 38 ecotourism facilities, including the Lavender House on the shores of Tihany's Inner Lake, the Tapolca Spring Cave and the Pannon Csillagda in Bakonybél.

As part of the establishment of the Kis-Balaton Visitor Center, the Fekete István Memorial on Diás Island was renewed last year, and the investment now handed over presents the values ​​of the highly important, highly protected national park landscape in a modern, 21st century way.
Zoltán Puskás, the director of BFNPI, reminded that Kis-Balaton, as a national park and nature reserve, is a "sanctuary of nature", where more than 300 species of birds nest in addition to countless animal species, including the coat of arms bird of Hungarian nature conservation, the great egret.
The board has so far maintained 14 showrooms and three visitor centers, receiving about 450,000 visitors a year.