According to data published on 9 August by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in June 2012 foreign tourist traffic on the basis of the number of tourism nights increased by 1.9 percent in Hungary compared to the same period of the previous year.

Domestic demand declined by 3 percent, which was due to the cautious spending of domestic population. On the other hand, “tourism export” has been constantly improving. The number of domestic guests was down by 1.6 percent, whereas that of foreign nationals was higher by 3.2 percent in the sixth month of the year in comparison to June 2011. Statistics also signal that more and more guests pick Hungary as their travel destination. The number of hotel tourism nights increased by 4.1 percent and revenues were up by 8 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In January-June 2012 commercial accommodation service providers could sell altogether 3.3 percent more tourism nights.

Lower turnover characterizes primarily guest-houses, camping sites and holiday homes; traffic at hotels increased significantly (4.1 percent) in June. As far as accommodation types are concerned, the number of guest nights increased by the greatest extent at four-star hotels. Compared to last year, growth in June was 17.6 percent regarding both domestic and foreign guests. Wellness hotels received 17.3 percent more domestic guests in comparison to the number of Hungarian visitors one year ago. Regarding the total number of visitors, the highest growth was recorded at spa hotels. In June of this year the number of guests there was up by 25.6 percent and in the initial six months of the year this figure increased by 31.5 percent compared to 2011.

As far as the origin of guests are concerned, in June the number of domestic guests was

1 million 26 thousand which corresponds to 49 percent of total guest nights. Analyzing average length of stay foreigners stay longer than domestic visitors except for the high season when these two indicators are identical. This situation is demonstrated by the below chart:

Average length of stay is characterized by seasonal factors: this indicator in the winter months is about 2.5 days and in the summer season about 3 nights. In June there was no change compared to last year: average duration of stay of foreign and domestic visitors was 2.7 days and 2.3 days, respectively. The great performance of hotels for the month of June is also confirmed by the increase of bookings which was 1.9 percent higher compared to the figure of the corresponding period of 2011.

Higher gross revenues have been characteristic of both commercial accommodations and hotels: at current prices at the former one revenue growth of 5.5 percent and at the latter one 8 percent were registered. Two-thirds of revenues totaling 9 579 million HUF were received from foreigners, and more than half of that amount was gained by four- and five-star hotels.

Travel expenditures of Hungarians are below that of foreign guests. In June of this year Hungarians spent 3 651 million HUF at commercial accommodations, which corresponds to a growth of 0.1 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The largest share of revenues was registered at four- or three-star as well as wellness hotels.

Regarding the tourism regions of Hungary, the capital city and Lake Balaton have continued to be the most popular destinations. The majority of foreign visitors, about 571 thousand people, choose Budapest as their travel destination, and one-third of them (194 thousand guests) head to the Balaton. Less than one-fourth of domestic visitors (74 thousand people) traveled to Budapest compared to the number of people who preferred Lake Balaton (309 thousand).

According to data of the month of July, in Budapest the number of guest nights at commercial accommodations increased altogether by 5.8 percent. Tourism growth in Southern Transdanubia was higher by a similar figure of 5.1 percent, while at the largest tourism region, Lake Balaton, the number of guest nights declined by 3.6 percent in comparison to 2011 data.

As the pie chart demonstrates, more than half of visitors (59 percent) opted for the Budapest--Central Danube region and Lake Balaton:

Tourists from Germany, Austria, Romania, Russia, Italy and the Czech Republic spent most of guest nights in Hungary in the first half of 2012. The number of tourism nights of European visitors in the first half of 2012 at commercial accommodations increased by 7.8 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2011. As far as hotels are concerned, the pace of growth is even more favourable, as in that sector growth of almost 10 percent was recorded. Guests from EU countries spent altogether 3.3 million nights in Hungary which amounts to an increase of 5.2 percent.

The below table shows – on a country-by-country basis – the number of guest nights in 2012 regarding spa hotels, as well as all the hotels and the entire commercial accommodation sector.

With regard to spa hotels the below trends could be observed in the first half of 2012:

In the first half of 2012 German, Austrian and Czech tourists stayed almost 30 percent more in spa hotels than in the corresponding period of previous year. In comparison to the first half of 2011 Russians, Italians, Brits, Spaniards, Swedes, Norwegians, Chinese and Danes doubled their length of stay in spa hotels. Bookings by Serbs have skyrocketed. The number of their guest nights at spa hotel units quadrupled  last year, while corresponding data for Dutch and Finnish visitors were three- and three-and-a-half times higher, respectively, in the period of January-June 2012. According to the latest tourism data of the KSH and the consequent trends, Hungary for tourists is an attractive alternative for short visits (lasting a couple of days). Foreigners traditionally prefer 2-3 day trips with top category accommodations. The popularity of spa hotels has been increasing. These are regarded as one of the most costly touristic segment due to medical treatments and related services. Domestic guests rather prefer three- and four-star hotels and guest houses, and domestic demand for wellness services has continued unabated.

(Prime Minister’s Office)