Most notable within the statistics for Hungary was its overall growth in March to June 2013 of over 7% year-on-year, good for sixth place among European nations. Topping the chart here were Iceland (interestingly described by report authors as “blistering”) at a big 30% increase in visitors y.o.y. and Slovakia, up 20%. Just marginally topping Hungary were Montenegro, Latvia and Croatia.
Despite “Europe’s economic malaise” which has been “hurting tourism” in many areas on The Continent, overall growth was seen throughout; the study notes only Cyprus and Italy as having declined in tourism year-on-year among Europe’s “traditionally big countries” in the industry.
The ETC noted that overnight stays were “subdued” compared to the general increase in actual arrivals, but Hungary still held its own in this category, reporting an increase of over 6% to place just behind Belgium and ahead of Serbia. Latvia led with a serious increase of 14% year-on-year.
Other key figures for Hungary included a strong 7.8% increase in hotel occupancy rates against the first five months of 2012, landing the country in second place on this table, behind only Slovakia; and Hungarian hotels enjoyed a 10.3% increase in revenue per room year-on-year throughout the first five months of the year. The big increases in terms of country of origin to Hungary were seen among travelers from, in order, Italy, the UK and the US.
Perhaps the best news for the Hungarian tourist industry in 2013 is yet to come: Per Világgazdaság, the Sziget Festival beginning this week has reportedly produced 100% occupancy rates in nearly all accommodation facilities in Budapest up to luxury hotels – despite a drop of over 7% in ticket sales to the event from last year. And this after what was reportedly another lucrative, hotel-filling Formula 1 grand prix last month.
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