Hungary tourism far from pre-pandemic level
The number of overnight stays in April this year was down significantly by almost 30% compared to the year before the COVID-19 crisis.
- The number of nights spent by domestic guests in commercial accommodation establishments was 20% below the April 2019 level before the coronavirus outbreak.
- The number of nights spent by foreign guests was 35% lower than in the same period in 2019.
As shown in the graph above, the number of nights spent has been showing an ascending trend in the beginning of this year. Compared to last year, the increase is impressive, but hotels were practically closed due to Covid, so year-on-year comparisons are meaningless in this case.
- The number of domestic guests was 384,000 in April and the number of nights spent was 844,000. The most popular tourist regions were Lake Balaton and the Budapest-Central Danube Region, where 22% and 17% of domestic overnight stays were registered.
- The 313,000 foreign visitors spent a total of 822,000 nights. The Budapest-Central Danube Region was the most popular tourist region, with 64% of foreign guest nights.
The coming months could be favourable, as tourism and hospitality could pick up substantially with the income of Hungarian households up due to various public transfers (personal income tax refund for families, full payment of 13th-month pension). And with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, more and more foreign visitors are expected to visit Hungary. However, the loss of Russian visitors this year could be painful for some regions.
Cover photo: Getty Images
