Drastic price rise in popular Budapest bath

Visitors should prepare for a drastic price rise in one of the most popular Budapest baths on 1 August.

Drastic prise rise at Dagály from August

According to 24.hu, the state-owned bath will increase ticket prices by an average of 15% from the beginning of August. If you are a regular bath-goer, you should buy your pass in July.

That comes after the bath raised its prices this May. From 1 August, you will have to pay the following ticket and pass prices:

• Adults on weekdays: HUF 4,350 (EUR 11), instead of HUF 3,800 (EUR 9.66), which is + 14.5%.
• Adults on weekends: HUF 4,700 (EUR 12), instead of HUF 4,100 (EUR 10.4), a + 14.6% rise.
• Kids, students, and pensioners on weekdays: HUF 2,850 (EUR 7.2), instead of HUF 2,500 (EUR 6.3), which is + 14%.
• Kids, students, and pensioners on weekends: HUF 3,650 (EUR 9.3), instead of HUF 3,200 (EUR 8.1), which is + 14%.
• Family ticket (2 adults and 2 minors): HUF 9,200 (EUR 23.38), instead of HUF 8,000 (EUR 20), which is + 15%.
• Pass for 15 entrances: HUF 52,400 (EUR 133), instead of HUF 45,600 (EUR 115), a + 15% increase.
• Pass for 180 entrances: HUF 299,000 (EUR 760), instead of HUF 260,000 (EUR 660), another + 15%.

Based on Spabook, a news outlet focused on such news, the price rise may be unexpected since leading government officials regularly and proudly mention the decreasing inflation. Meanwhile, they raised prices by much more than the annual average inflation, which is expected to be around 6% in 2024 in Hungary. Such price rises generate more inflation, 24.hu wrote.

Here are the Dagály bath’s new prices:

Hungary’s top ten bath companies increased income by 23.6%

According to a compilation of Termalonline summed up by economx.hu, in 2023, the ten biggest Hungarian bath companies increased their income from EUR 129 million to EUR 160.6 million, a 23.6% rise. According to the Hungarian National Bank, the 2023 average annual inflation was “only” 17.6%, so the Hungarian bath companies increased their revenues much above the rate of inflation.

The Budapest Spas cPlc. made a solid HUF 22.9 billion (EUR 58.2 million) revenue, a 40% rise compared to the previous year. Their profit after taxation rose even more, from EUR 6.1 million to EUR 13.72 million, so operating a Budapest spa or bath seems profitable.

But Dagály is not operated by the Budapest Spas cPlc. The National Sports Agency of Hungary, a state-owned company, runs it, which is not in the compilation.

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