Zoltán Guller, the head of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ), said the performance of Hungary’s tourism sector last year beat that in 2022 and matched or exceeded the record year of 2019.
Citing preliminary data, Guller told a press conference that some 16 million tourists spent 41 million guest nights in Hungary last year. Revenue of tourism accommodations and catering establishments rose in the double digits, beating the rate of inflation, he said. Commercial lodgings registered 1.3 million more guest nights last year than in 2022, he said, adding this was a significant increase because estimates showed that international conflicts reduced the number of guest nights by one million. Total revenue of tourism accommodations was 860 billion forints (EUR 2.2bn), up 23% compared with 2022, he said, adding that guests spent 1,780 billion forints at catering establishments, 18% more than the year before. Of the roughly 16 million tourists, 7.1 million were foreign, an 18 percent increase from 2022, he said. Guller said the sector was expected to see sustained growth this year.