Get ready: Lake Balaton will see significant price increases this summer

Lake Balaton is the most important domestic tourist destination for Hungarians. Well-liked for its beaches, hiking paths and restaurants, it attracts millions of tourists every year. However, as much as people love Balaton, it’s important to keep in mind that in the past year, we’ve seen prices skyrocket in all parts of life. How do these new circumstances affect our holiday at the lake?

In a recent interview by Tamás Károly, the director of Club Tihany Resort Center Zrt. (Club Tihany Üdülőközpont Zrt), we could finally get an insight into what we can expect in terms of financial burdens this summer. Through the conversation, he touched on the most important challenges faced by hotels in summer and throughout the year, Pénzcentrum writes.

Challenges the industry faces

Mr Károly primarily talked about the changes that have affected the hotel industry around Lake Balaton in recent decades. For example, the increase in consumer prices in response to inflation. The main problem is that this price hike happened despite the fact that there is less and less available hotel staff.

He highlighted that hotels had previously attempted to extend their opening hours throughout the year. According to his experience, this was not sustainable due to winter costs and energy prices. However, the use of new technologies may enable this possibility in the future, as revealed in the interview.

The interview also addressed the closure of hotels during the winter season. Mr Károly mentioned that although it is quiet during this time, they can reopen within four days for certain events or conferences. Employees are on the payroll throughout the year, and their salaries are paid even during closures.

New prices

According to Mr Károly, pricing depends on the extent to which raw material prices, energy prices, and market expectations increase. Prices need to be raised annually to keep up with at least the level of inflation. However, this year, global raw material and energy prices have increased significantly. Despite this, they were only partially able to pass on these costs to their prices.

“We have strived to raise prices to the smallest possible extent because many of our customers have been affected by the effects of the pandemic, and we wanted to maintain our competitiveness,”

he stated.

The director of Club Tihany mentioned that despite this, there may still be a 30 percent price increase this year. Regarding the season, he stated that they are more optimistic than during the pandemic. The progress in vaccinations and the easing of epidemiological measures can have a positive impact on tourism. People show a greater demand for travel and relaxation, so we hope to have more guests in the hotel – he outlined their expectations.