The tourism and economic significance of the Sziget Festival extends beyond the money spent at the festival site: 90 per cent of foreign visitors travelled to Hungary specifically because of the event, leaving HUF 15 billion in the Hungarian economy, GKI Economic Research Co. said on Wednesday, presenting the findings of an on-site survey conducted at the festival to the Hungarian News Agency.
Sziget Festival: foreign festival-goers spend more, remain longer
GKI noted that its questionnaire-based survey, conducted among a sample of 529 people, was not representative, but was nevertheless suitable for assessing the general financial circumstances of visitors.
According to the GKI survey, a foreign festival-goer spent an average of approximately HUF 260,000 in Hungary in connection with Sziget, excluding international travel costs. This figure includes spending both at and outside the festival site, ranging from the festival ticket to accommodation and food and drink in Budapest.
By international standards, Sziget is considered to offer good value for money: only 28 per cent of foreign visitors regarded it as expensive. The survey found that Hungarian visitors spent an average of HUF 108,000.
According to a statement from Sziget, approximately 357,000 people attended this year’s event, based on the cumulative number of daily admissions. Foreign visitors accounted for 47 per cent of the total, while almost half of festival-goers were attending Sziget for the first time. Respondents spent an average of 3.2 days at the festival: 44 per cent stayed for five days, while 31 per cent attended for just one day. Foreign visitors spent an average of 3.5 days at the festival.
Economic impact of Sziget significant
The analysis found that Sziget’s economic impact was not confined to the duration or site of the festival. A significant proportion of festival-goers from outside Budapest, including foreign visitors, spent additional time in the capital and its surrounding area alongside attending the event, generating considerable additional value for the tourism economy.
Festival-goers from outside Budapest, including foreign visitors, spent HUF 98,000 outside Sziget. Of this, 38 per cent went on accommodation, 31 per cent on food and drink, 17 per cent on entertainment and 13 per cent on travel within Hungary.
According to Sziget’s own figures, approximately 58,000 foreign visitors attended the festival this year. Multiplying that figure by the average amount spent per person in Hungary, the festival’s international audience left roughly HUF 15 billion in the Hungarian economy. This was money that would not have entered the country without the festival, since 90 per cent of foreign visitors had travelled there specifically because of Sziget, MTI wrote.
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Organisers not satisfied
The revenue was distributed among accommodation providers, the hospitality sector, transport and other services, and its effects continued to be felt beyond the festival itself. In other words, Sziget’s economic significance is considerably greater than the sums spent at the festival site alone would suggest, GKI said.
“Based on feedback from the audience and the media, the direction we have outlined is good, but many circumstances were not in our favour, so the numbers did not turn out as we would have liked,” Károly Gerendai, the founder of Sziget Festival told media after the event. Last year’s six-day festival attracted 416,000 visitors, he added.
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“Last autumn, we suddenly had to take over the festival from the departing foreign owners, and then political disputes almost brought Sziget to an end. In the spring, we were optimistic, but we will fall short of the hoped-for numbers,” Gerendai said.
“The organisation and ticket sales started with a four-month delay, whereas previously we had sold a third of our tickets during this early period. The strengthening of the forint made the festival more expensive for foreigners, and the third factor was that among Hungarian ticket buyers, the extreme heatwave, drought, and questions about the power supply created a kind of disaster mentality, which dampened the mood for festival-going,” he concluded.
Gerendai added that there would be Sziget Festival in 2027, the event will be organised between 10 August and 15 August.
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