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The Budapest hotels are more popular than ever
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According to the most recent report of STR, more people have booked hotel rooms in Budapest than in Prague or Vienna in January-February 2016, and the number of domestic tourists has also increased, thanks to the wide use of SZEP cards, turizmusonline.hu writes.
Regarding tourists, most of them booked rooms in the country; the number of overnight stays spent by Ukrainians has risen by 43.1%, while Germans spent less time in Hungary, MSZÉSZ’s (Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association) report revealed.
The occupancy, gross price and RevPAR (revenue per available room) also increased in February compared to 2015: the gross turnover of Hungarian hotels grew by 6.5% in the first two months of 2016, and its RevPAR increased by 8.1%. The number of domestic overnight stays has increased by 9%, while foreigners spent 8.5% more nights in Hungary.
The industry saw such a huge increase because the usage of SZEP cards have been extended by 21% in Hungarian hotels, many hotels in the country had special offers, there was a mild winter, and gas prices were low.
In the first two months of 2016, hotels in the country saw a total increase of 18.5% in foreign overnight stays, while it only grew by 3.8% in Budapest. From the countries of the European Union there was a 8.5% increase, from European countries there was a 3.3% rise, while there was a total growth of 17.9% from Asia (this huge rise can be credited to China with 102.9%, and Israel with 18.8%). Austria (+12.3%), the Czech Republic (+18.1%), and Romania (+22%) are still in the lead.
However, less Russian tourists seem to be choosing Hungary as a holiday destination; there was a 9.9% decrease in the first two months of 2016, but there was still a 5.1% increase in February compared to 2015. Despite the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the number of overnight stays spent by Ukrainians grew by 43.1% in January-February 2016.
German tourists traditionally often choose Hungary as a holiday destination, but the negative tendency has continued in the first two months of 2016 as well, and there was a 2.5% decrease in the number of overnight stays. However, February brought a 3.4% increase.