Márton Nagy: tourism delivered peak performance last year

The sector played a decisive role in the Hungarian economy, the tourism sector “like a real engine” pulled up GDP – he emphasized.

The Minister announced that there will be a tourism bank, the sector’s own bank will be established from autumn, which will accept loan requests through the network of Tourinform offices. The first loan programs will also appear then – he added.

Márton Nagy highlighted that, exceeding all expectations, 11 percent more guests, 18 million, spent 6 percent more guest nights, exceeding 44 million, in Hungarian accommodation last year. Accommodations recorded a revenue of 1,050 billion forints, which is a 16 percent increase compared to the previous year, and the revenue of catering establishments increased by 11.2 percent to 2,005 billion forints. Hungary is also among the EU leaders in terms of the increase in guest nights.

He also reported that in December, many Hungarians traveled abroad, 250,000 more than the previous year, and in terms of inbound tourism, 17 percent more people arrived in our country. In January this year, inbound tourism increased by 20 percent, and in the capital, a 30 percent increase was recorded, he said, adding that the momentum continues.

He called the airport’s repurchase important. He said that he was proud of it, and he expected a lot from the management, “as many passengers and as much money as possible.” And the airport’s peak performance could continue to increase, he believed.

He recalled that last year they also dealt with deregulation and the issue of short-term housing rentals, in which case a consensus was reached. He also called the introduction of individual VAT exemption important in the sector, and there were discussions on the issue of service charges and tips, but a good compromise was reached on the subject, he assessed.