Accommodation generally booked without agents

The number of nights spent by guests in commercial places of accommodation was down by 1.3 percent in the January-September 2008 period, compared to 2007. Revenues of the sector showed stagnation. The number of guests was up by 2 percent. The number of guests arriving from Germany, Austria, and the US showed decline, while more visitors arrived from the UK, Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia. Three and five star hotels produced growth, while occupancy rate dropped in all other categories. The number of domestic guests was up by 2 percent, while the number of nights dropped by one percent. Four and five star hotels produced growth of 10-11 percent. Regarding the purpose of visit, conferences and business accounted for 30 percent of guests. The majority of guests had booked accommodation personally and only 29 percent used travel agencies. Average occupancy rate was 50 percent in hotels and 63 percent in medicinal hotels, which are slightly lower figures than in 2007. Total gross revenues generated from accommodation were HUF 189 billion which is equal to the same period in 2007. Average gross room rate was HUF 14,813, with a sevenfold difference between the lowest and highest rates. The total number of hotel rooms was 49,000, with another 13,000 rooms in different types of accommodation services. The total number of employees in the sector was 30,000 in September.