An awfully high number of hotels will close in Hungary in 2023

Illustration. The Four Seasons Hotel of Budapest, one of the capital's most illustrious accommodations. Photo: FB

Csaba Baldauf, the head of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, shared the disappointing results of an internal survey carried out by the organisation lately.

According to the chairman, 20-25 percent of the Hungarian hotels plan to close because of soaring energy prices. Mr Baldauf talked about the findings of their latest survey to the News of Magyar ATV.

Meanwhile, service providers cancel long-term energy contracts with companies and local councils. Gábor Bali, an energy professional, said there are many kinds of contracts, and, in some cases, traders are allowed to modify the price. As a result, for example, Budapest will lose the low electricity prices in its current long-term contract, and they are preparing to buy that resource from January for daily price. In that case, the Hungarian capital may modify decorative lighting times, the deputy mayor of Momentum Movement, Gábor Kerpel-Fronius, added.

Furthermore, traders terminated a lot of fixed-price contracts with the hotels. As a result, 60-70 percent of them will be forced to buy electricity for a daily price. Moreover, part of the sum has to be paid earlier. That may result in the closure of 20-25 percent of the hotels in Hungary. That will be temporary, he added, lasting until April-May. The reason is to save money and reduce the loss on electricity bills.

Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungary’s newest five-star hotel opened in Tokaj

Government sector support to leave HUF 30 billion with tourism companies

The government’s measures to support tourism will leave some HUF 30 billion (EUR 73.5m) of taxes with the sector’s SMEs in the next 6 months, the head of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) told a press conference on Tuesday. Measures include suspending the tourism development tax, at 4 percent of revenues, between 1 October, 2022, and 31 March, 2023, and cutting red tape in the industry, Péter Horváth said.

Also, with more flexible rules governing holidays and overtime, jobs will be easier to maintain, he said. Meanwhile, the terms for the use of company benefits-in-kind cards (SZÉP) have been changed so that employees can take winter breaks with a view to boosting domestic winter tourism.

The number of guest nights has jumped by one-third to 33 million in between January and October, compared with the same period last year, Horváth said. That number is expected to reach 37 million by the end of the year, just below 42 million registered in 2019, he said.