Average prices per square meter at the well-liked Lake Balaton are being driven up by the increasing popularity of holiday villages.Continue reading
Although experts expect thousands of tourists to visit Lake Balaton in December, they believe that the Advent period could be better exploited by joining forces with the Balaton municipalities, with a Santa Claus project similar to the Finnish model.
There is no summer without Lake Balaton – often called the “Hungarian sea”, Central Europe’s largest lake is justly famous not only among Hungarians but also among foreigners. In summer, the hotels are typically packed, as are the beaches, and young and old alike love to spend their summers at Lake Balaton. Although for many people Lake Balaton is limited to the summer, the reality is that the season is not over once the summer is over.
The beautiful Hungarian lake offers countless activities and a wonderful winter landscape, and the tranquility of the lake is also there in winter.
In a statement sent to MTI on Sunday, Tamás Fekete, vice-president of the Balaton Tourism Association, said that even before the Christmas season, there are a number of events that can prove once again that Lake Balaton is not closed after the end of the summer season, and that winter Balaton can still be an attractive destination for Hungarian families.
Péter Éskovács, one of the advisers of the Open Balaton campaign, said that the Advent season could be better used by the program managers of the Balaton municipalities if they worked together. This would require the leaders, tourism and marketing experts of the region’s municipalities to follow the example of Finnish travel experts.
Although thousands of tourist visit Lake Balaton during winter, even more could be made of the Hungarian site.
In the 1980s, the Finnish authorities developed a new tourism strategy for the Lapland region, the central element of which was the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi. A well-designed and executed Santa Claus project, similar to the Finnish model, could create a winter tourist season in the Balaton region that would attract families not only from Hungary but also from neighboring countries. In a well-planned destination, guests would spend more than the average even if December is not the peak season in the region, he added.
Featured photos via MTI/Varga György; Éltető Balaton Felvidék