A top tourism official has issued reassurances that Hungary remains safe and that local authorities can guarantee the security of all tourists who arrive in the country. Deputy state secretary for tourism Ádám Ruszinkó told reporters in front of Saint Stephen’s Basilica, in the city centre, that Budapest’s tourist attractions are far from areas affected by the refugee crisis. There have been no tensions around the capital’s main sites, he added.
The Association of Hungarian Travel Agencies (MUISZ) said earlier that they had turned to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó over concerns that Europe’s migrant crisis is affecting Hungary’s tourism. MUISZ leader Bálint Erdei said certain travel agencies which normally see 50 bookings a day had only received 4 to 6 bookings over the past two days. He said the main problem is the constant presence of “shocking images” in the foreign press, which is scaring away foreign tourists, regardless of whether they would be travelling by plane, train, car or boat. He said several guests staying in hotels near Budapest’s Keleti railway station also recently indicated a desire to move to other hotels.
Tourism has proven successful as one of the driving forces of the national economy: between 1 January and 31 May, 3.4 million tourists spent a total of 7.9 million guest nights at commercial accommodation establishments and both guest turnover and the number of guest nights were up by 8.2 percent and 6 percent, respectively, compared to the same period of the previous year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported previously.
via hungarymatters.hu and MTI