Hungarian families’ spending on foreign travel has increased significantly

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 01. 24. 09:08

The strengthening of consumer confidence is unbroken, and one of the most important signs of this is that Hungarian families are becoming more and more courageous and spending more on travel. Last December, around 250,000 more Hungarians decided to travel abroad than in the same period of the previous year, which is also reflected in the air and road border traffic data – the Ministry of National Economy (NGM) drew attention in its statement on Friday.

In support of families’ rest, the government decided to provide them with a continuous, 6-day rest period at the end of 2024. Hungarians took advantage of the Christmas rest period to travel abroad in unprecedented numbers.

In December 2024, 212,000 Hungarians traveled abroad from Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport, which is 19 percent, or 34,000 people more than in December of the previous year.

Most Hungarians traveled to the airports of London, Istanbul, Dubai, Milan and Rome. However, the largest increase in demand can be attributed to popular, mainly Mediterranean resorts such as Valencia (228 percent), Malaga (45 percent), Malta (35 percent), Abu Dhabi (30 percent), Tenerife (28 percent), Nice (24 percent), Athens (19 percent) or Bari (16 percent), the NGM listed.

In addition to those traveling by plane, the number of Hungarians traveling by car to neighboring countries has also increased significantly. In December 2024, approximately 107 thousand more outgoing cars with Hungarian license plates were registered at border crossings, which is 5.4 percent higher than a year earlier.