The domestic tourism sector continued to expand last month, as in April 2015 the number of guests and tourism nights was up by 9.6 percent (771 thousand) and 4.8 percent (1.8 million), respectively, while the volume of revenues at accommodation establishments rose by 5.7 percent (HUF 15.5bn) in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.

At 52.6 percent, the room occupancy ratio shows an improvement of 2.7 percentage points compared to the same month of the previous year. Concurrently, average room prices also increased, and higher RevPAR was the result of the positive change in both indicators.

The fact that tourism traffic was outstandingly high in April last year highlights the importance of these figures: in April 2014 the number of tourism nights soared by 14.4 percent year-on-year.

While domestic tourism traffic showed steady increases this year, that of foreigners is more volatile and less predictable. However, figures improved in both groups compared to April last year: the number of domestic and foreign guests was up by 7.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

SZÉP Cards continue to be the drivers of domestic tourism traffic: in the observed period, 380 thousand domestic guests spent 790 thousand tourism nights at commercial accommodations, which constitute increases of 12 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, even compared to the very high base of the previous year.

In April 2015, 395 thousand foreign guests (+7.5 percent) spent 1 million 19 thousand tourism nights (+2.5 percent) at Hungarian commercial accommodations. Although the number of Russian guests – due mainly to ruble depreciation – was lower, that of United States guests increased spectacularly, by 21 percent, compared to the same period of the previous year. Out of the top 10 sender countries, arrivals from eight of them were higher, with double-digit growth recorded with regard to Great Britain (14 percent), the Czech Republic (18 percent), France (14 percent), Romania (13 percent) and Slovakia (16 percent).

(Ministry for National Economy)