Tourism had an outstanding year

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 01. 29. 11:28

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

Last year was a strong year for tourism: tourist accommodation registered 7.3% more guests, a total of nearly 19.5 million, and their total revenue was also 12% higher than in 2024. Tourism also expanded significantly at the end of the year, in December: nearly 1.4 million guests spent 3.2 million guest nights in accommodation. The number of guests was 12 and guest nights were 9.2% higher than a year earlier. We expect tourism to continue to expand in 2026, in line with international trends. Domestic growth is supported by rising real wages and government transfers, as we can read on Monitorblog.

Tourism data for 2025:

The number of guest nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments increased by 2%, or 61.5 million, in 2025 compared to the previous year, totaling 3.08 billion, a record value. The expansion was primarily driven by foreign guests (+46.1 million nights), while domestic guests experienced an increase of 15.4 million.
In 2025, the number of guest nights spent in tourist accommodation increased in almost all EU countries. The largest increases were registered in Malta (+10%), Poland (+7%) and Latvia (+6%), with Hungary in 8th place among the countries showing growth, significantly ahead of the Czech Republic, Austria and Romania.
The sector in Hungary expanded similarly dynamically in 2025 compared to 2024:
- A total of 19.5 million guests were registered in tourist accommodation, up 7.3%.
- The number of domestic guests increased by 3.2% and foreign guests by 12% (this meant 9.7 million domestic and 9.9 million foreign guests) in tourist accommodation.
- In Budapest, the increase in the number of guests exceeded 13%, of which 7 million were foreign and more than one million were Hungarian. In 2025, 16% of the total tourist turnover was accounted for by Balaton accommodations.
- The total revenue of tourist accommodations was 12% higher.

SZÉP card top-ups reached 499 billion forints in 2025, which is 10% higher, and spending reached 492 billion forints, which is a 14% increase compared to 2025. At the end of December last year, 127 billion forints were still available on the cards.
The passenger traffic of Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport approached 20 million people in 2025, which represented an 11.7% increase compared to the previous year. The increase in traffic was supported by a strong flight offer: 154 destinations of 45 airlines were available from Budapest, with increased capacities (Wizzair announced the launch of the Dubrovnik route for the 2026 summer season; flights will depart three times a week from June 8). In preparation for further growth, infrastructure developments have begun, including the preparation of the new terminal, as well as the expansion of security screening, check-in and parking capacities.