Tourism 2004
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talent for entertaining Tourism in Hungary 2004 www.hungary.com Talent for entertaining HUNGARY To the Reader The Hungarian administration of tourism and representatives of the indus- try welcome your interest in our traditional publication of the most recent statistics of tourism. We have been publishing this document of facts and figures for many years. We aim to help readers understand the main trends of tourism in Hungary, and particularly service providers, who are the most important participants in the sector. It is no news to you that Hungary has been a member state of the European Union for about a year. Membership has already presented several issues and is expected to bring even more challenges in the future. As one of the prime driving forces of the Hungarian economy, tourism has been enjoying full government support. This is particularly relevant this year as a new and independent governmental body, the Hungarian Tourist Authority was set up on January 1, 2005 to act as the administrator of the sector under the aus- pices of the Minister without Portfolio in Charge of Regional Development and Convergence. This opens new horizons for the sector, particularly as regards the implementation of key concepts, the coordination of regional development projects and the utilization of European funds. In terms of the diversity of natural and cultural assets in Hungary, we can happily say that we are at the forefront. To highlight only three areas: the wealth of Hungarian thermal water resources, the diversity and colourful character of our cultural events and the excellence of Hungarian cuisine and Hungarian wines. Moreover, there are plenty of additional opportunities afforded by Hungary's tourism resources. To expand that supply and to further increase the attrac- tiveness of the country as a tourist destination, we have developed the National Tourism Development Strategy, which sets priorities and directions for development until 2013 in line with the EU planning cycle. We hope that this new publication will provide you with a comprehensive description of our past achievements as well as our future opportunities. We trust that the information in this publication will be of use to you and will refine your image of us and our country. Naturally, all that cannot make up for personal experience so we take this opportunity to invite you to visit Hungary. Budapest, February 15, 2005 István Kolber, dr. Minister without Portfolio in Charge of Regional Development and Convergence 1 Content Welcome by István Kolber, dr., Minister without Portfolio in Charge of Regional Development and Convergence 1 General Information about Hungary 3 Facts and Figures 4 International Tourism in 2004 and Hungary’s Position in International Tourism 4 The Economic Importance of Tourism in the World and in Hungary 5 Tourism in Hungary, 2004 7 Summary Data on Hungarian Tourism, 2002-2004 7 Incoming Tourism 8 Domestic Tourism 14 Outgoing Tourism 17 Arrivals and Guest Nights at Commercial Accommodation 18 Number of guests and guest nights at private accommodations in Hungary 25 The Traveling Habits of the Hungarian Population in 2004 26 The Organizational Structure of Tourism in Hungary 32 Parliament 32 Parliamentary Committee on Tourism 32 Minister without Portfolio in Charge of Regional Development and Convergence 33 National Tourism Board 33 Hungarian Tourist Authority 34 Hungarian National Tourist Office 35 The Activities of the Hungarian National Tourist Office in 2004 38 The Focuses of the Marketing Communication 39 Image of Hungary as a Tourist Destination 39 Budapest 40 Lake Balaton 43 Health Tourism 46 MICE 47 Event Tourism 49 Holiday Vouchers of Social Tourism 51 Campaigns 53 Exhibitions, Fairs and Events 56 International Trade Events in Hungary 59 The publication contains data of Brochures and CD-ROMs 62 World Tourism Organization, Press and Trade Relations 63 World Travel&Tourism Council, Website 65 National Bank of Hungary and Call Center 66 Hungarian Central Statistical Office. Give-Away 66 Marketing Research 67 Cooperation with the Trade 68 Exchange rates (2004): Representations of the HNTO abroad 72 1 EUR = 251.68 HUF 1 USD = 202.63 HUF Tourinform offices in Hungary 73 2 General Information about Hungary Territory: 93,030 sq km Population: 10,116,742 persons (on January 1, 2004) Population density: 109.0 persons/sq km Capital: Budapest Territory: 525 sq km Population: 1,705,309 persons (on January 1, 2004) Population density: 3,248 persons/sq km Time zone: GMT + 1 hour Daylight saving: + 1 hour from the last weekend of March to the last weekend of October Official language: Hungarian Form of state: Republic Public administration: 19 counties and Budapest Hungary is situated in the Carpathian Basin in East Central Europe. The Geographic Location country spans 268 km from north to south and 528 km from east to west. Two plains, the Great Plain (Alföld) in the east and the Small Plain (Kisalföld) Topography along the north-western border, cover more than 50% of the territory of the country. Visitors may witness the typical wildlife, folklore and traditions of the popular tourist destination, known as 'Magyar Puszta', during equestrian shows held in the Hortobágy National Park in the Great Plain. The two largest rivers are the River Danube (the length of its Hungarian section is 417 km) and the River Tisza (598 km), both flowing from north to south. The hills of Transdanubia are bordered in the north by Lake Balaton, the warmest freshwater lake in Central Europe. The mountains of the country such as the 400-700 m Bakony, Vértes, Velencei, Pilis Hills, the 400-800 m hills along the western border (Soproni, Kőszegi Hills), and the 500-1,000 m Northern Hills (Visegrádi, Börzsöny, Cserhát, Mátra, Bükk, Aggtelek-Rudabánya, Tokaj-Zemplén Hills), each have ranges running diagonally from north-east to south-west. The highest peak, Kékes (1,014 m), crowns the Mátra Hills. The country is divided into nine tourist regions: Tourist Regions 1. Lake Balaton, 2. Budapest and the Central Danube Region, 3. Southern Great Plain, 4. Southern Transdanubia, 5. Northern Great Plain, 6. Northern Hungary, 7. Central Transdanubia, 8. Western Transdanubia, 9. Lake Tisza. Hungary is located in the temperate continental zone. January is the coldest Climate and August is the hottest month (with average monthly temperatures at -1°C and 21.3°C, respectively). Annual precipitation is 570 mm, and the number of sunny hours is 1,785. 3 Facts and Figures International Tourism in 2004 and Hungary's Position in International Tourism1 International tourism recorded extremely positive results in 2004: figures of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) showed a 10% increase in international tourist arrivals to reach an all-time record 760 million. Growth was particulary strong in Asia and the Pacific region and the Middle East. In Europe, international tourist arrivals were up 4% last year, bringing an additional 15 million tourists to the old continent (Table 1). Growth characterized both leisure oriented travel and business tourism in 2004. International Tourist Arrivals, 2002–2004 Table 1 esedés 2002 2003 2004 2004/2003 2004 (million) (%) market share (%) Europe 397 399 414 4 54.6 Northern Europe 46 47 51 7 6.7 Western Europe 138 136 139 2 18.3 Central and Eastern Europe 66 68 73 8 9.6 Southern/ Mediterranean Europe 148 148 152 3 20.0 Americas 117 113 124 10 16.3 Asia and the Pacific 131 119 153 29 20.2 Africa 30 31 33 7 4.3 Middle East 28 29 35 20 4.6 World Total 703 691 760 10 100.0 Source: World Tourism Organization The dynamic development of world economy, and particularly the economic performance in the United States of America, in Asian countries and in some European source markets with both international and European importance influenced significantly world tourism performance in 2004. While incoming tourism to the United States of America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom benefited from the strong euro, it put downward pressure on the number of guests visiting Canada, Australia and New Zealand and destinations in Southern Africa. Europe has maintained her leading role in international tourism: the old continent claimed 54.6% of all international tourist arrivals in 2004, including 73 million international tourist arrivals in Central and Eastern 1 Source: WTO Barometer survey, January 2005. Europe, which represents a market share of 17.6%. Fuelled by the For further information visit: www.world-tourism.org 4 exchange rate of the euro and the EU enlargement, the Central and Eastern European countries and Northern Europe were the engines of Outbound trip features in 2004: • increasing number/proportion of growth within Europe. Ranked 12th in international tourist arrivals2, people travelling on their own, Hungary occupied a prestigious position among the most popular tourist • increasing number/proportion of destinations. trips with shorter length of stay, • escalating interest in the special Besides the number of international arrivals, the receipts from international products of tourism/niche segments, tourism showed dynamic growth (+10.3%) in 2004, generating EUR 500 • more frequent use of the Internet, billion for the destinations. Europe benefited from more than half of these • expansion of low-cost flights, revenues (52.4%), with the Americas and Asia claiming 21.1% and 20.1%, • late booking becoming increasingly respectively. Overall income per international tourist arrival amounted to common, EUR 660, the same came to EUR 630 in Europe, whilst tourists visiting • added price sensitivity. Central and Eastern Europe spent EUR 290 on average per person. International air traffic also expanded substantially in 2004. Figures published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) put the number of passengers taking regular flights last year at around 1.8 billion; moreover, passenger traffic on international flights was up 15% in 2004.