The Past Two Years of Hungarian Tourism
The Past Two Years of Hungarian Tourism
The years 1999 and 2000 were milestones in the development of Hungarian tourism. Not that the macro-economic indicators were so exceptional, but rather because quite a number of seminal processes started. Fitting the pieces of these developments together may easily lead us to the conclusion that Hungarian tourism was actually ‘reborn’.
The year 1999 gave us a rough start; the Kosovo bombings had a paralyzing impact on tourism from the first month of the year. It was at this time that the leaders of the ruling party, the young and dynamic Fidesz Government (literally: the Young Democrats) called for a change in tourism, since the results of the previous years showed a very limited increase in practical terms. This could be seen as a direct consequence of the fact that since 1998 the new governing Coalition devoted far greater importance to tourism than any of its predecessors. This is neatly exemplified by the establishment of the Parliament Committee for Tourism (with two subcommittees: spas and palaces). It must be mentioned here that new leaders were promoted to senior roles in two important positions – the Deputy State Secretary for Tourism, and the Head of Hungarian Tourism Co. Ltd.
Why is there an the urge to say that tourism as an independent branch lived its renaissance in this period? The word renaissance literally means rebirth. Now this only comes about at specific times under the appropriate circumstances, generally when internal and external influences resonate and thus amplify each other.
External Influences
Internal Influences
Results for 1999
Sizeable Investments in Tourism
Results for 2000
The Future
Turnover of Retail Trade and Catering
Turnover of Retail Trade
Retail Trading Network, by Regional Units, as of 31 December 1999.
Turnover of Retail Trade and Catering Businesses by Regional Units
