“Those who have no money don’t go on vacation to Lake Balaton at all, those who have, go abroad. The willingness of Hungarians to go abroad has increased significantly, and this can also be seen in additional pre-booking data,” said Tamas Flesch, head of The Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, to Index at the beginning of July, which added that there are thirty to forty percent fewer guests, according to association data. According to Balaton in the current season.
The figures of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association have already been refuted by the head of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ), stating that there is no question of such a decline.
They can see all accommodations
Zoltán Guller said that with the NTAK system, they have access to all accommodation services, as nowadays every accommodation has to use some kind of accommodation management software where accommodation providers manage bookings. From these programs, relevant data is automatically sent to the online statistical system, and MTÜ experts can monitor the performance of local tourism in real time.
At the moment we receive data from 45,000 properties to NTAK, we know exactly where guests of any nationality come from, how many days they stay, how much they spend
– said the head of MTÜ, adding that the agency obtains all this information anonymously from residence data, Google searches, mobile phone data and bank card data.
He said of the National Tourist Information Center (NTAK) that it is an innovation unique in all of Europe, in which more than a dozen mathematicians and computer scientists work. When our newspaper asked him about the performance of the tourism sector in light of the data, Zoltan Guler clarified the sector’s data, but he indicated that the most accurate assessment of the numbers is at the end of the summer season, and then it is worth drawing final conclusions. .
Recently, rumors and false news about Balaton tourism are pouring in, which has been picked up by some media and is still spreading, causing damage to the companies operating in Lake Balaton and to us Hungarians with every negative article.
– The head of the MTÜ explained in his opinion why sector numbers should be presented before the end of the season.
I often go to Lake Balaton, and during one of my visits I read an article about the Lake Balaton crisis. I immediately called a restaurant owner on the south coast, who said he hadn’t gone through a regression, but had heard there were problems on the north coast. I also called a restaurant owner on the north coast, who also reported that his income had not decreased, but he had heard that there were problems on the south coast. This can be used to filter out the harmful effects of bullying, when people are not informed of true information and develop a false image.
– The head of the agency explained to our newspaper that the real numbers do not indicate a crisis situation. According to him, the fact that people do not have an overview of the sector as a whole contributes to a misconception, and here he gave the example of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (MSZÉSZ), which, at best, only contains data on a small part of the number of accommodations considering in that. In Hungary, 45,000 places of residence are registered, and the association has just over 450 members. “When the head of the Balaton district of MSSZÉSZ talks about a 40 percent decrease, it is only true if he is talking about his own hotel, while a few hundred meters away, in another hotel, for example, we see a 130 percent increase,” he noted. Zoltan Guler.
Let’s look at the numbers!
Regarding tourism performance this year, the head of MTÜ said that the number of visitors increased by four percent in July this year compared to last year, and that the sector improved by 13 percent in this indicator compared to 2019. Although the number of domestic guests decreased by 4 per cent, the number of foreign guests has jumped by 19 per cent.
Zoltán Guller pointed out that domestic tourism is shaped by a general trend that can be seen across Europe: after the coronavirus pandemic, a much higher proportion of people travel abroad. During covid, there was a day when 97 percent of the accommodations were Hungarian only, while the sector is functioning healthily when the ‘guest mix’ in Hungary is half Hungarian and half foreign. This is why MTÜ is working to attract foreign tourists back to Hungary. According to him, NTAK is of great help in this matter, with which they can develop a marketing campaign targeting individual income and social groups.
The first thing I would say about the numbers is that I consider mid-season evaluation to be unprofessional, but from time to time I find myself compelled to get caught up in it with panic-inducing articles and statements. The number of guests in Budapest is up 22 percent from this time last year. We experienced a stagnation in the number of guests in the countryside. At Lake Balaton – which everyone is talking about now – in the first seven months of the year we see a drop of less than one percent in the number of guests, which means that on average there were 50 fewer people per day in the accommodations which will disappear into the stats by the end of the season summer. The number of one-day tourists has increased significantly, so in general there are more people on Lake Balaton than last year, this is a reality
– said Zoltan Guler. The head of MTÜ explained: “The success of Lake Balaton is a matter for all of us, and my colleagues did not find any statement from the head of the Croatian Hotel Association saying that the Adriatic is in crisis and there are no tourists. It is possible that he knows that such statements will not have a good effect on the Adriatic, And this is not in the interests of the Croats. I don’t know why the Hungarian president says things out loud that are not true, but I know for sure that he will certainly not help the hotels he represents.
New trends in tourism
Returning to the change of direction due to covid, the chief noted that guests are increasingly looking for private accommodations rather than hotels. According to the specialist, a new feeling has arisen in people during the coronavirus pandemic, that is, they prefer smaller accommodations because they feel safe there.
It’s also a global trend in which some people have switched from large hotels to smaller, quieter accommodations. And that’s supported by the fact that while we’re seeing declines in some places in hotels, we’re seeing growth in private accommodations
– explained the president, pointing to another trend that has also developed its head, namely, the increase in the number of one-day tourists. The number of people jumping into Lake Balaton for just one day has increased to an astonishing extent, and MTÜ can see this from mobile data.
There are no fewer guests on Lake Balaton than last year, in fact there are more. In other words, Balaton says hello, he’s fine and he’s waiting for the guests
– The President evaluated the figures, explaining that the national situation in the first seven months of the year was favorable despite the rainy weather, there were 5 percent more guests in the country than in the same period last year.
At Lake Balaton, the weather dictates
Heavy rainfall and unseasonal temperatures did not favor local traffic. Based on MTÜ figures, a one percent decrease or increase in the average temperature for a given month is associated with a one percent decrease or increase in the number of tourist bookings.
Balaton’s big advantage over the Adriatic Sea is that it is close. Balatonakarattya, for example, is an hour away from Budapest. I was there last week and everyone went home at the first rain. So the effect of weather determines local traffic
– Zoltan Guler noted to our newspaper, adding that the average temperature in June was about 3 degrees lower than the previous year. As an interesting fact, he revealed that the weather report is the best advertisement for Lake Balaton, because as soon as 30 degrees is announced, reservation numbers jump abruptly, which is immediately indicated by the number of reservations that hit NTAK in real time. Although the rainy weather works against them, according to him, there is great hope that in September they will be able to deliver results that will surpass last year’s figures.
The reservation problem is serious, but summer reservations are not in danger
If we were really talking about accommodation, the booking situation presented itself as an almost inevitable problem, which is also reported in detail by Index. Hungary’s Tourism Agency (MTÜ) launched a survey on August 4, to which nearly 6,000 accommodation providers responded.
Every second service provider among the respondents is affected by the Booking.com late payment scandal
Survey concluded. MTÜ reported that it will start consultations on this issue with the relevant authorities, and will launch a legal aid service for companies with problems.
It is outrageous and unacceptable that in a sector where sales are now largely online, one of the dominant multinational players is trying to assert his dominance over small entrepreneurs, endangering the livelihoods of thousands of families. What’s more, it does it right in high season
– said Zoltan Guler. The head of the agency told our newspaper that they are still awaiting answers from accommodation providers in the event of a reservation and will work on them by Friday. After that, they also consult with the government, consumer protection and economic competition bureau and representatives of Booking.com. In response to our question, he said that despite the seriousness of the situation, summer bookings are not in danger.
(Cover photo: György Varga/MTI)
