Tourism expert: FINA World Championships is a good opportunity for the Balaton region as well

“Hungary will host one of the biggest sport events of the world next year, and the Lake Balaton will be in the middle of attention as well” – Henrik Hoffman, president of the Balaton Regional Touristic Destination Management (TDM) Association and member of the Hungarian TDM Association said regarding the 2017 FINA World Championships.

Henrik Hoffman stressed that Hungary has organised plenty of successful sport events in recent years, and he is very pleased with the fact that the Hungarian fans will have the chance to watch the World Championships.

“Budapest is a more and more popular touristic destination, but considering its beauty and endowments it would deserve even more. We all know that just a couple of weeks after the World Championships the host city of the 2024 Olympic Games will be announced in Lima, and a successful FINA World Championships could convince the decision makers in favour of the Hungarian capital and also the potential venues around the Balaton” – Hoffman added.

“Since the venue of the open water competitions at the World Championships will be in Balatonfüred, it will be relatively easy to get there thanks to the M7 motorway and the proposed rail developments supported by the government. Just think about that: to get from Budapest to Balatonfüred will be roughly the same as to reach an LA suburb from the city centre.”

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Henrik Hoffman would like to draw attention to the collateral market values of such a big event, as the competitions of the FINA World Championships will be watched by 6 and a half billions of people all over the world for two weeks. They will see among others the Parliament Building with the view of the Danube, the Városliget, the Margaret Island, and those experiences could affect the touristic decisions of the following years. The Lake Balaton can also benefit from that: certain tourists, even from overseas , who have already heard about Budapest, but not about the Balaton, can discover the biggest lake of Middle Europe.

“For me it is a special feeling that the Balaton will be a major venue as well. The region has been the scene of open water swimming World and European Cup competitions, as well as the 2014 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships and several major sailing events, and plenty of other big sport events will follow in the upcoming years. The competitors and all those who have already been at the Balaton, always return there with pleasure, because the atmosphere is great, the water is still and warm in summer, and the infrastructure around the lake has improved really well in the last 20-30 years.”

“Thousands of people will be in Balatonfüred during the FINA World Championships and the FINA Masters World Championships, which will be really beneficial for the local economy. The tourism of the region can also boom, so these events have a positive effect in every sense.”

Photo: MTI

Source: fina-budapest2017.com – press release