Careful optimism at autumn

Autumn is a popular period for city breaks but the riots in the streets of Budapest last September and October have scared away many potential visitors and high service charges at Budapest airport further add to the problem.

The number of guest nights at commercial lodgings in
Budapest increased by as much as 35 percent between 2002 and 2006 but declined
by 3 percent as of July this year, the director of Budapest's official tourism
marketing service BTH Tourism Services said. However, there was a significant
improvement in tourism revenues this August, he pointed out.
    Airport service charges in Budapest's Ferihegy total
EUR 23 per passenger as against the European average of EUR 10, which is a
considerable disadvantage, taking into consideration that, according to a
recent survey, a quarter of travellers pick their destination purely on the
basis of air ticket prices, Laszlo Fekete said.
    Yet, launching seven low-fare Ryanair services from
Budapest this September and October is expected to give an impetus to tourism
in the capital. In addition, Malev Hungarian airlines will operate a new
service to Spain in October and BTH will at the same time launch a marketing
campaign there.