The number of guest nights per year may increase to 50 million by 2030 in Hungary

As a country of 10 million, Hungary can accommodate 20 million tourists, which can generate 50 million guest nights a year by 2030, up from the current 41.8 million, said László Könnyid, CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ) on Tuesday in Budapest during McKinsey & Company's "Budapest Awaits: Fulfilling the at a round table discussion held on the occasion of the presentation of his study "city's tourism potential".

He added: 60 percent of foreign guest nights are realized in Budapest, and this proportion will remain even with the growth of tourism.

He called it important that, in addition to the capital, the tourism of rural Hungary should also develop, and that tourists go to the countryside from Budapest as well.

Csaba Faix, CEO of Budapest Brand Nonprofit Zrt., pointed out at the round table discussion that the increase in the number of guest nights in the capital can be contributed not only by the increase in the number of tourists, but also by the fact that tourists spend more nights than they do now in the capital city.

According to the study presented at the event, Budapest could double the number of tourists and the number of guest nights they spend here, as well as double or triple their spending in the capital. Doubling tourist traffic would require infrastructure development, more effective digital marketing, conference tourism, and close cooperation of industry players.

The potential for growth is supported by the fact that the average share of the global tourism market of the six European cities with characteristics similar to Budapest's - Berlin, Barcelona, Lisbon, Milan, Prague and Vienna - is 0.65 percent, compared to Budapest's 0.37 percent. If Budapest were to make full use of its potential in tourism, it would be able to increase the number of international tourists by up to 12 percent annually until 2030. This could result in the number of international guest nights increasing by 7-14 million annually, and tourists spending two to three times more money, nearly HUF 6,000 billion, in the capital.

In this way, Budapest could partially offset its current disadvantage compared to its European competitors, and Budapest would increase the city's contribution to the national GDP by 1,100-1,900 billion forints by 2030 through tourism.

Among the obstacles to growth, the study listed the fact that compared to cities with similar characteristics, Budapest offers the fewest hotel accommodations, and the share of conference tourism is also half that of Budapest. It also lags behind Budapest's competitors in terms of the number of medium- and long-distance air connections.

According to the McKinsey study, the target markets with the greatest potential should be more focused and targeted, such as the United States, Germany, China, and the premium tourist segment.