Mónika Balatoni, the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice's Minister of State for Social Relations, called supporting hiking an important and high priority task of the administration at a press conference on Saturday preceding an event marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian Hiking Association.

According to the Minister of State, the Navigable Hungary Framework Programme includes the tourism-related areas of hiking, cycling, horse-riding, canoeing and sailing, is an important part of Hungarian economic development and could become an umbrella programme for leisure tourism in Hungary, while the amendment of the Forestry Act, which is a model for Europe, has made the country's territories fully accessible.

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Mónika Balatoni emphasised that hiking also has an important role to play in changing people's way of thinking, encouraging young people to get away from their computers and go out into nature, and in providing families with leisure activities. The development of hiking in Hungary and presenting the country's natural treasures may also be important when it comes to foreign tourists, and is also of significance with regard to the country's image, she added.

The Minister of State stressed that the Hungarian Government has undertaken to ensure the availability of cheap, good quality accommodation every 50 thousand steps, or every 30 kilometres along Hungary's hiking trails and is providing 990 million forints in funding towards surveying Hungary's 22 thousand kilometres of tourist paths, in addition to which the Government is spending 150 million forints on surveying linear infrastructure such as small gauge railways and teaching trails, the same amount in two phases for surveying forest cycling routes and waterways, and a further 50 million forints for the painting of markers.

Plans include a software development programme, which would lead to the creation of an event calendar containing all the programmes of Hungary's national parks, forests and the tourist association in one, easy-to-find location, as well as the continuation of the tourist house renovation programme.

At the press conference, Minister of State for Sport and Youth István Simicskó, from the Ministry of Human Resources, said that hiking and conservation go hand-in-.hand, and the state forestry commission places special emphasis on maintaining the recreational function of forests and on protecting nature, which also serves the interests of the economy. The Government has spent 7 billion forints (over 23 million euros) on tourism-related investment in Hungary's national parks since 2009.

The Ministry of National Economy's Deputy State Secretary for Tourism Viktória Horváth said that the development of domestic tourism provided stability to rural Hungary. Negotiations on the new tourism concept have come to an end, and the plan places significant emphasis on leisure and eco-tourism, and network development, including hiking, to which funding will be allocated during the next seven years.

László Jung, Managing Director of the Hungarian Development Bank, which practices the ownership rights to 22 state forests, stressed that in addition to their economic role, forests also have important responsibilities with regard to conservation and public welfare. 4 billion forints in leisure-related investment has been realised at the 22 state forestry companies over the past three years and the expansion of 28 places of accommodation will be realised in 2013-2014, the first of which has already been inaugurated.

The Hungarian Hiking Association was founded in 1987 as the successor to the Hungarian Tourist Association established in 1913 and the various Hungarian hiking organisations dating back to 1873. Today, the Association has some 500 member organisations and 14 thousand registered members. Its activities span the whole country through its various member organisations and it is a member of the European Ramblers' Association.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President of the Hungarian Hiking Association Itsván Garancsi signed an agreement in Dobogókő on 3 July 2013. The Association also has signed cooperation agreements with the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of National Economy, and is in negotiations regarding cooperation with the Ministry of Rural Development, the Hungarian Development Bank, the Institute for Transport Sciences and the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing.

(Ministry of Rural Development)