Visit Hungary: The number of foreign tourists at Lake Balaton increased by 17 percent, also thanks to MotoGP

According to the statement, 269,000 guest nights were registered in the Balaton region during the race weekend – between August 21 and 24 – which exceeded the same period of the previous year by 5 percent.

They explained that for the first time since 1992, a grand prix in the “king category” of motorcycle racing was held in Hungary, the MotoGP World Championship is the most watched motorcycle racing series in the world, and the competitors and team members, as well as the fans of the star athletes, also boosted international tourist traffic in many settlements in the region.

They added that after the competition venue, Balatonfőkajár, the number of international visitors increased most in Tihany, Balatonkenese, Balatonalmádi, Veszprém and Siófok compared to the same period of the previous year.

During this period, the largest number of visitors came to Lake Balaton from abroad, most from Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania – they announced.

However, the largest increase was registered from the two countries that topped the podium of the World Speedway Championship: the number of Spanish guests increased more than fourfold and that of Italians increased one and a half times compared to the previous week.

The growth of accommodation revenues also “shifted to higher speed” during this period: in Balatonfőkajár, it expanded eighteen times compared to the previous week, and the accommodation facilities in the region recorded a total of approximately 5.8 billion forints in sales revenue, which was 21 percent higher compared to last year.