Significant price hikes expected at Lake Balaton this summer

It seems that price increases on the beaches of Lake Balaton will become inevitable this summer. Although the summer season is still far away, there are already talks about raising the entrance ticket prices at several Balaton beaches. In addition, entrance fees would be introduced at a beach that was previously open to the public for free.

Significant changes in ticket prices

As reported by the Hungarian news portal portfolio.hu, ticket prices would be raised at several beaches in Balatonalmádi this summer. The local council’s proposal primarily addresses the Budatava, Wesselényi and Káptalanfüred beaches.

The council argues that there are several reasons to increase beach entrance fees. They believe that the increase is necessary because the minimum wage and the guaranteed wage minimum have increased, while utility costs have risen nearly fivefold. However, they want to maintain free parking in the town.

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These are the main changes planned for the beaches of Balatonalmádi:

• The adult ticket price at Budatava beach may change from the last year’s HUF 1,300 (EUR 3.35) to HUF 1,900 (EUR 4.89), while at Wesselényi it may increase from HUF 1,500 (EUR 3.86) to HUF 2,000 (EUR 5.15).
• After 4 pm, the ticket price could be HUF 1200 (EUR 3.09) compared to HUF 900 (EUR 2.32) last year.
• Children, students and seniors will also have to pay 1,200 HUF (EUR 3.09) for a ticket.
• The family ticket price would increase to HUF 6,000 (EUR 15.45) compared to HUF 5,000 (EUR 12.87) last year.
• The ticket price for school groups may increase from HUF 700 (EUR 1.80) to HUF 1,000 (EUR 2.57).
• The adult season ticket would cost HUF 38,000 (EUR 97.82) instead of the previous HUF 27,000 (EUR 69.51).
• Adult passes for 10 occasions are planned to cost HUF 17,000 (EUR 43.78) instead of HUF 12,000 (EUR 30.91). The same type of pass for children and seniors would cost HUF 11,000 (EUR 28.33) instead of HUF 8,000 (EUR 20.59).

The increase in ticket prices could result in an additional gross revenue of HUF 77.4 million for the local government,

writes portfolio.hu.

The council is not only proposing ticket increases, but also the abolition of certain types of tickets. The tickets that are intended to be abolished include, among others, group adult tickets, weekly passes, as well as discounted birthday tickets.

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Changes expected in Siófok too

In Siófok, Újhelyi beach is planned to become a paid beach in 2024. The beach will certainly be open to the public without an entrance fee this year. The local council is also discussing the possible renovation of the beach.

Csaba Várkonyi, the managing director of the beach owner company (Balaton-parti Ltd.), suggested that the beach should not necessarily be made entirely fee-based. In his proposal, he outlined two options. In this case, an operating profit of HUF 3.1 million (EUR 7,999.70) could be achieved. The second option would be to offer local residents a discounted ticket price. In this scenario, the beach would have an operating profit of HUF 16 million (EUR 41,288.79). Of this money, 13 million forints (EUR 33,547.14) could be spent on renovations, which the operator considers essential.

According to the proposal, the current pavement should be replaced by all means. In addition, the fence and the building on the site would also need to be renovated. As there is no grant funding available for the renovation of the beach, it is likely that the latter option will be chosen.

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Source: portfolio.hu