Summary Data of Tourism

During last year, 5.4 million guests and 16.8 million guest nights were registered at the commercial accommodations, practically the same number as one year before. The turnover of foreign guests decreased by 3% last year at the commercial accommodations. Three fifths of the guest nights were concentrated in Budapest and the shore of Lake Balaton. It was typical to the composition of the guest nights

that 72% of them were spent by guests coming from the European Union. Within that, more than 820,000 guests came from Germany. One third of the total turnover was realized in hotels in Budapest, where the number of guest nights also decreased, by 2%.

Tourist Arrivals and Tourist Nights of Public Accommodation

The minor decrease in the turnover of foreign guests was set off by an increase in the domestic one. The turnover of domestic guests was increasing almost continuously during the year compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, by 6% over the year. The number of guest nights increased by 11%, 2% and 5% in the hotels, pensions and cottages, respectively. Taking into consideration the lower number of border crossings by Hungarians travelling abroad, the increase shows that the increase in the demand in the domestic tourism industry made its influence felt in the domestic market instead of trips abroad.

The occupancy rate of the hotels was 46% on average until the end of December, two percentage points lower than during the previous year. The highest occupancy rates were measured in the five-star hotels and the spa and medicinal hotels, 65% and 66%, respectively. In Budapest, the average occupancy rate was 10 percentage points higher than the national level (56%).

Occupacy Level (%)

International Tourism Receipts (million USD)

According to the preliminary balance of payments of the National Bank of Hungary, a foreign-exchange revenue of USD 2.5 billion was generated by tourism in 1999, which is 2% less compared to the preceding year.

* preliminary data