Márton Nagy, the national economy minister, held talks with the elected mayor of Miskolc, in north-eastern Hungary, on Monday, and said that the government would do everything in its power to help with the reconstruction of the Miskolctapolca cave bath, which burnt down on Friday evening.
Besides the loss of income in tourism, closing the badly damaged spa for reconstruction has also put families' livelihoods at risk, Nagy said during the talks with József Tóth-Szántai.
Tóth-Szántai said the spa was re-organizing to keep all its staff, and they were working to redirect tourists to other baths in the city.
The spa, situated on extensive leafy grounds around a string of natural caves, is unique in Europe, and an important Hungarian tourist attraction, the minister and the mayor said at the talks. The spa drew 147,000 visitors in the first seven months of the year, and came close to 300,000 visitors a year before the Covid pandemic, they said.