Hungarian tourism could reach full recovery by spring

International real estate services and investment company CBRE expects Hungarian tourism to recover from the COVID-19 crisis by the spring of 2022. While domestic tourism remains strong in the rural regions, tourism in the capital may be the first to recover in the region due to its new, high-quality hotels.

According to CBRE expert Laurent Lassier, with the introduction of the international vaccine passport, tourism could reach pre-pandemic levels by next spring.

Hotel market analysis

The tourism and hotel sector was among the first to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. However, data from the summer period indicates a positive trend in the domestic hotel market.

Hotel occupancy rates are already at 90−95% of pre-pandemic levels, and revenues have increased 10-12 per cent in parallel with the average price of rooms,

writes Turizmus Online.

Domestic tourism was strong in the spring and summer months, which proved to be dominant mainly in rural areas where hotels also reached the pre-coronavirus level. The most popular destinations were Lake Balaton, the Tokaj wine region, and Hajdú-Bihar county.

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Contrary to the levels observed in the rural hotel market, Budapest’s tourism shows a different trend.

Since almost 95% of the capital’s market operates with an international clientele, the recovery there is much slower than in the countryside.

In June, for example, hotel occupancy in Budapest increased to 24% in a year. This is a significant improvement compared to 2020 when the occupancy rate was just over 5%, but still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic rate, which was well over 80%, explains Világgazdaság. The statistics also have to take into consideration that some hotels did not open immediately after the restrictions were lifted.