More Hungarians will take a vacation in Croatia than at Lake Balaton in 2016

Although Lake Balaton is still an important holiday destination for Hungarians, more and more people choose to go to the Adriatic Sea than to the Lake. According to the most recent statistic the number of Hungarians vacationing in Croatia has peaked last year. Pénzcentrum.hu compared the costs of a family vacations in the two countries.

Many Hungarians choose to travel to Croatia because it’s close and the costs are reasonable. According to Attila Orient, editor of horvatorszaginfo.hu, the most frequently visited locations are the Islands of Kvarner Gulf such as Krk- and Rab Island, but the Crikvenica Riviera and the Split region are also popular.

According to the data based on tourism tax, almost 465,000 Hungarians have visited Croatia in 2015; 16.8% more than in 2014. The number of overnight stays was 2.493 million, 15.5% more than in 2014. The number of overnight stays spent by Hungarians at Lake Balaton is 3.266 million. Although the numbers favour Lake Balaton, the number of overnight stays in the second most popular Budapest-Central Transdanubia region is far less than in Croatia.

Although it’s hard to predict what will happen in 2016, but according to Marin Skenderovic, representative of the Croatian National Tourist Board in Budapest said that the number of tourists will probably increase in 2016, although not as rapidly as last year, because due to recent events many people avoid travelling by plane.

The city of Dubrovnik in Croatia has new laws concerning tourists who are not dressed properly while walking on the streets: according to the new law, a fine as high has 100 000 HUF can be given to anyone who is not dressed appropriately (e.g. wearing bikinis or wearing nothing from the waist up).

Comparing the prices, Lake Balaton is much closer to Budapest than any Croatian city. According to penzcentrum.hu’s findings, the Budapest-Siófok route costs around 9 985 HUF by car (there and back) at takes an hour, but the same trip to Rijeka, Croatia costs at least 39 679 HUF (including the gate fee) and takes 4 hours and 40 minutes. Gas fees are high in Croatia at the moment, so it’s cheaper to fill the car’s tank in Hungary before going.

The website compared the housing prices for two adults and two kids, for four nights. Although there’s a huge difference in the prices depending on where the hotel or apartment is located, Lake Balaton is usually cheaper: apartments can be rented as cheap as 45 000 HUF at Lake Balaton, and rooms in a 3 star hotel are around 83 000 HUF. The same costs about 70 000 HUF in Croatia, but hotel rooms can be as expensive as 211 000 HUF.