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After repeated and gradual price increases, beach tickets for the high season will be 40 percent more expensive on average than at this time last year. The good news is that all the spas, apart from those temporarily closed for renovation, have survived the coronavirus and the energy price explosion.
The extended winter school holidays gave a great start to January in spas, but then the usual off-season arrived, and the balance of the first quarter still shows a 15 percent lag compared to pre-Covid times, reported Világgazdaság.
The lack of Russian tourists was and still is felt by many spas, the secretary general added, while foreigners are returning to Budapest at a brisk pace, while in the countryside the difference in turnover between the pre-Covid and the current period is still visible.
The beach season has not yet begun, although the weather was summery over the long weekend of May 1, and despite the absence of the several days of rain forecast by meteorologists, most people did not reschedule their programs, so the month started quietly around outdoor pools.
Spas are gradually opening, and the number of guests at places with outdoor pools, mostly with thermal water, is increasing, and by Pentecost beach and spa resorts will be operating at almost full capacity.
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However, spas will not be fully operational until after the end of the school year in the second half of June, when all services and outdoor pools will be open from June 17.
There hasn’t been a real beach season yet this year, but the usual heatwave will soon set in.
In the meantime, not only ice cream
but also the “beach inflation” is becoming tangible, with ticket prices rising by a total of 40 percent in several phases over the course of a year.
Under one of the provisions linked to the pandemic situation, spas were not allowed to raise prices until the end of June last year, and they all took advantage of the opening on July 1, typically revising their prices by 20-25 percent in the first phase last year.
The general and significant mid-summer price increases at the end of last year and the beginning of this year have been increased in many places, and some will do so for the high season. Overall, another 10-15 percent correction will be seen almost everywhere, and these together will cause the not so insignificant price changes.
The price of beach tickets has risen to over HUF 2,000 (EUR 5) this year, and in Budapest the prices in the historic baths are approaching HUF 10,000 (EUR 27); however, with the Zsigmondy card, which is tailored to residents, you can get into the most expensive complexes for a fraction of that cost.
Photo: Pixabay
Operators across the country are being forced to take steps. The formerly uniform, now very different electricity purchase price and the brutal rise in the price of water treatment chemicals, as well as the adjustment to the minimum wage and guaranteed minimum wage, have significantly increased the price of visiting spas.
Domestic tourism is being stimulated by the Széchenyi Holiday Card, but some foreigners are being permanently put off by the imminent war, and this is now clearly evident.
In addition, the situation has turned around in the meantime: the HUF 50 billion (EUR 135 million) in EU energy renovation funds expected by the large spas and the long-awaited GINOP tenders are not yet forthcoming, while the modernization plans of small spas have not needed to be scrapped. The cleaning and upgrading of thermal water wells, self-sufficient hot water cooling and heating, heat pumps, and solar panels are ongoing and are being worked on in several spas.
The best situation is for complex spas, where the seasonal fluctuations in traffic can be adjusted gradually by operating a single section.
New beaches and spas are opening this year, with Berettyóújfalu and Győr hosting ribbon-cutting ceremonies. It can now be said that spas, which have survived Covid and the energy price boom, are an extremely important part of the tourism experience. However, changes in operators and new financing schemes have been developed in several places in the knowledge that all municipalities are trying to preserve, and if possible, develop the attractions that generate significant indirect revenues,” the general secretary of the bathing federation stressed.
Featured image: Photo/Pixabay