Once a
preferred holiday resort with Germans,
is gaining affection among Slovaks, Poles & Hungarians
Hungarian
holidaymakers are flocking back to
again. But German visitors, the former mainstay of the tourism industry at the
“
shoulder to the destination.
“From this
weekend we are fully booked until 20 August. Campsites, apartments, rooms and
hotels are all full up at least for the long weekends from Thursday to Monday,”
Klára Halász, head of the Siófok Tourinform office told The Budapest Times.
Although German tourists are increasingly turning their backs on the “
number of Hungarian visitors is also very high this year. Moreover, German
tourists are being replaced by more and more tourists from
A similar
trend can also be observed in Badacsony, on the north
According to László Deres from the internet portal Badacsony.hu: “The Germans
are staying away, but they are being replaced by tourists from other nations
and by Hungarians.” According to Deres, Hungarians are behaving more
spontaneously this year. Whilst last year the tendency was to book rooms at
least a month in advance, this year spur-of-the-moment reservations are the
norm: “People are listening to the weather forecast during the week, and when
it says it’s going to be sunny, they simply book a room there-and-then for the
long weekend,” Deres said.
More than beer & bikinis
Due to the
growing demand among young people and families with children, what is on offer
has also changed. “It is now about a calm holiday beside a gleaming lake with
good restaurants,” he said.
Those,
however, who like livelier holidays are also catered for. This summer at
including numerous festivals, such as the Balaton Sound Festival, which took
place between 12 and 15 July in Zamárdi on Balaton’s southern shore. The
organisers, who have also organised the Sziget Festival in
satisfied with the visitor numbers. “Given this was the first festival, we had
reckoned with less interest. Instead of the expected 25,000 guests, over the
four days some 32,000 people came from Hungary, France, England and Germany to
see bands like the Beastie Boys, Brand New Heavies and Bauchklang,” said
Viktória Vet?, spokeswoman of Sziget Kft. There was also a five-day rock
festival in Zánka. The now ten-day long Valley of Arts festival, the open-air
theatre festival in Tihany, the Miss Balaton competition in Siófok and the
Badacsony wine weeks – all of which take place beside or near the Lake – also
enjoy great popularity.
Right mix of water this year
According
to Miklós Kovács, state secretary at the Ministry for Regional Development
responsible for tourism, the renewed popularity of
Balaton
optimum quantity of water. Statistics from the Hungarian Tourist Office show
that the number of overnight stays in hotels at the lake by the end of June
rose by 7-14% in comparison to the previous year. “There were particularly high
numbers of visitors during the recent heatwave. A longstanding record in
passenger numbers on the Balaton ships and ferries was even broken, and there
were long queues outside food and drink stalls,” said Kovács.
You don’t always get what you pay for
The quality
of the services still leaves something to be desired. The notorious surliness
of the waiters and the tricks of taxi drivers have still not changed. “There
are still some black sheep who set out to rip off foreign guests or who don’t
adhere to the health regulations. But that is the same all over the world,”
said Kovács. Inspections have been tightened up. Before the start of the
season, for example, traders and food vendors in Fonyód were informed about the
changes to the regulations and the expected checks. “Due to the strict
inspections last year some businesses were uneasy and pondered whether it is
still worth continuing their activities,” said Rezs? Kertész, co-chairman of
the Somogy county branch of the National
Federation of Traders and Caterers. It is particularly worrying that officials
are focusing primarily on the imposition of fines and not the protection of
consumers, he said
