Post-pandemic domestic tourism resumes in Hungary

Domestic tourism in Hungary restarted operations in May thanks to the gradual lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions, the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) said on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the fast and coordinated government measures, the 2020 domestic tourist season restarted in May," the MTU said in a statement. "Based on the data so far, the annual domestic turnover may exceed previous years," it added.

In May of this year, 134,000 guests stayed at Hungary's tourism establishments spending 433,000 guest nights. Due to the international travel restrictions, domestic travel was dominant in May: 94 percent of the guests were domestic visitors, who spent 82 percent of the total number of guest nights, according to the MTU.

"International arrivals for tourism purposes were almost completely missing in May," the MTU said.

The coronavirus has had a demonstrable effect on Hungary's tourism industry as tourist groups have not left China for European destinations, the MTU said last month.

"Chinese tourists represented 5-6 percent of the total guest traffic, most of whom arrived in Budapest in groups," the MTU recalled.

According to the China National Tourist Office in Budapest, 277,389 Chinese tourists visited Hungary in 2019, an 8.36 percent increase year-on-year.