After a successful last year, the development of professional tourism, hospitality, religious tourism and health tourism will receive special attention this year. The goal is to make tourism the driving force of the Hungarian economy once again, said Laszlo Lingged, Executive Vice President of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ) in a video uploaded to the organisation’s community page.
Domestic tourism closed the best summer ever
Executive Vice President said. He added that pre-epidemic traffic in the countryside had already recovered in the fall. Looking at the whole year, nearly ten million guests spent nearly 29 million guest nights in accommodation establishments in Hungary, an increase of 20% and 25%, respectively, compared to 2020.
He added that 2021 was a challenging year, the country was almost closed in the middle of the year, which is why Hungarian tourism shut down the best summer ever. He also said that tourism will continue to re-establish this year, and that the development of professional tourism, hospitality, religious tourism and health tourism will receive special attention after a successful year last year.
László Lengid explained that revenue from accommodation establishments exceeded 360 billion Swiss francs last year, an increase of 22.5 percent, and revenue from hospitality increased 36 percent to more than 970 billion Swiss francs, with SZÉP card spending more than 55 percent from last year.
He said that last year was also a year of planning, the strategy was reconsidered, and many important changes came into effect with the amendment of the Tourism Law. Accommodation has begun to be classified into a unified category, creating a transparent and easy view for consumers in the marketplace. Restaurants and attractions are beginning to be linked to the National Tourist Information Center (NTAK), so from July 2021 Hungary’s most comprehensive real-time big data portfolio will help with data-driven decisions.
László Lengid said that the renovation of the bathrooms will be supported by a large source of funding this year. A new region-based model in sector governance is being developed, with a focus on improving workforce quality, education and career path shaping. He added that they are continuing to work on implementing the plans in order to make tourism the driving force of the Hungarian economy once again.
