Another international recognition: Liget Budapest received the award for the best creative and sustainable tourist district

This time, the project won the Quality and Sustainability award at the Creative Tourism Awards in Barcelona. The competition, which was held for the 13th time, is a defining international forum for sustainable, community-centered tourism. The Creative Tourism Network, which awards the award, was established with the support of the European Union and is a strategic partner of UNESCO and the UN World Tourism Organization. With the recognition, Hungarian development has entered the global forefront of sustainable urban tourism innovation. Winning the Creative Tourism Awards is yet another strong proof that Liget Budapest is one of the most attractive cultural and natural experience spaces in the entire region. Europe’s largest cultural urban development, the Liget Budapest Project, has won over eighty national and international awards so far.

Since 2014, the Creative Tourism Awards have recognized destinations, projects and businesses that put creativity at the heart of their tourism strategy and offer engaging, participatory experiences while contributing to the development of local communities. The Creative Tourism Network, which is behind the award, is an internationally recognized professional platform that works closely with UNESCO, the UN World Tourism Organization and several national ministries. The organization was established in 2010 with the support of the European Union and this year also announced the competition series in partnership with the Transcultura program, funded by UNESCO and the EU.

This year’s competition, which attracted record interest, attracted 223 entries from 28 countries, and the international jury made its decisions based on originality, strengthening the local creative ecosystem, and integration of sustainability principles. In Europe, Budapest, Cannes and the French Riviera also won awards in several categories, but iconic destinations around the world include New Orleans, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Easter Island, and Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

“We are extremely proud of this prestigious international recognition. Liget Budapest has won numerous outstanding architectural and cultural awards in recent years, and now more and more tourism professional awards confirm our aspirations. Due to the high importance of tourism, a separate directorate is responsible for maintaining contact with visiting partners and serving guests. Our goal is for Városliget to become the most important cultural quarter in Central Europe, where world-class institutions, a green environment and a family-friendly range of experiences form a unit.” – Benedek Gyorgyevics, CEO of Városliget Zrt.

In its justification, the jury highlighted that Liget Budapest combines cultural innovation and the renewal of the natural environment with the involvement of communities in an exemplary manner. The City Park is a harmonious unity of culture and nature: historical institutions and contemporary, world-class architectural works – such as the House of Hungarian Music or the Museum of Ethnography – offer diverse, interactive experiences in a renewed, greener and more sustainable urban environment.

The City Park has closed its most successful year to date

The CEO highlighted the award: “We are very pleased to say that the public also confirms the recognition of the profession: since the launch of the Liget Budapest Project, 2025 was the most successful year for the City Park to date: the total number of visitors to the developments that have already been delivered exceeded 14 million, and Hungarians and foreigners alike visited the locations of the renewed park in record numbers. This result is a true milestone in Europe’s largest cultural urban development – ​​and also proof that the City Park has now become one of Budapest’s unmissable tourist destinations.”