Budapest Moves Up in Global Ranking of Conference Cities

Hungary Today 2023.10.26.

Business tourism will be the driving force in the sector in the autumn, writes Turizmus.com. The market for business events, conferences, and congresses is gaining momentum, with October being the busiest month of the year, along with May, according to the Hungarian Tourism Agency.

The rapid recovery of the MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) segment in Hungary is shown by the fact that Budapest is 22nd in the latest global ranking of conference cities by number of major events in the country, up four places compared to 2019.

In the ranking of international conference cities, Budapest beat cities such as Montreal, Mexico City, Warsaw, Edinburgh, Bangkok, Istanbul, and Zurich.

In addition to the Hungarian capital’s easy accessibility, inspiring environment, reliable infrastructure, professional service background, and safe environment, the developments of recent years also contribute to the success.

In Budapest, for instance, ten new hotels with more than 1,100 rooms have entered the market this year alone, and 92 venues are now available for events. In addition, two complexes with a capacity of more than 1,000 people are already waiting for conference delegates, the Budapest Congress Center and the renovated Hungexpo.

Hungexpo is the capital’s largest exhibition and fairground space. Photo via Facebook/Hungexpo

Based on data from the National Tourism Data Supply Center,

the number of business travelers increased by almost 10 percent in the first nine months of the year, mainly thanks to foreigners, compared to 2022.

Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Israel, and Austria have shown the greatest interest. These countries also accounted for the majority of the conference market, but the Scandinavian countries, as well as Italy, Austria, and Switzerland, also had a significant weight.

Fact

As Hungary Today reported earlier, the number of tourists from South Korea and China quadrupled compared to last year, while a third more American visitors came to Budapest in the first seven months of the year. Tourists from distant countries are more interested than average in sightseeing, gastronomy, spas, and culture, and several of them are visiting Hungary’s attractions in the countryside. All three countries show a strong interest, hence there is high tourism potential in these markets. Among visitors from the United States, the proportion of over-45s is particularly high, accounting for almost half of the total number of visitors from the US. However, there is also a growing share of younger couples, families, and incentive travelers. From South Korea, the 25-44 age group accounted for 52 percent of visitors, and the same age group from China accounted for 63 percent of tourists. While among U.S. and Chinese visitors, the proportion of men and women is balanced, more than 60 percent of South Korean tourists are male.

The capital plays a key role in business tourism, hosting, for example, nearly 86% of international conferences held in Budapest last year and 51% of domestically organized events. The majority of these domestic events (71.6%) were held in hotels, but thanks to the renovation of Hungexpo, the share of conference centers (11.3%) more than doubled compared to 2019 (4.8%).

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Via turizmus.com, Featured image via Facebook/Magyar Turisztikai Ügynökség