Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics claimed that "as a tourist region, Lake Balaton is viable only with Bakony and the Balaton Uplands, which together is capable to offer a wide variety of programmes throughout the whole year" at the two-day European Destination Marketing Conference this Thursday, organized in Balatonfüred.

As the Minister of Public Administration and Justice reminded, over the last few years a professional debate was going on how the "golden age" of Lake Balaton could be redeemed as it was during the Eighties. Tibor Navracsics thinks that the "Balaton of the Eighties" nowadays would be a total failure either on local and international levels, because of the shift in consumer habits since then. He pointed out instead then-typical uniformed and low-level services, focus should be today on showing unique values and serving individual demands.

Furthermore Navracsics added, Tourism Destination Marketing (TDM for short) communities played a key role in discovering local privileges and bringing them to guests. He emphasized that the image of the lake should be renewed; although in itself it is not a viable destination, only when integrated with the Bakony region and the Balaton Uplands.

As the Minister elaborated on, the upcoming Bakony-Balaton Tourist Region will be able to offer a wide variety of programmes throughout the whole year and become self-supportive. The local TDMs will have a decisive role again in this project; they are who give the so-called "local taste" to attractions which are united in nature, but serve individual demands. Achill Rumpold, one of the creators of the Carinthian touristic law said, the determining factor in successful tourism is the very local provider, who is really interested in matters. That is why opportunity should be given them to participate in the decision making process concerning their ends. For example in Carinthia, as he said, they determined local, regional and state levels of decision with clear duties and resources assigned to those. Politics had been driven out from tourism, as he noted, amending that successful will be who is allowed independently and freely to decide how to use resources.

(Ministry of National Development)