Best of Budapest & Hungary

Around 178,000 guests stayed in the Hungarian capital's hotels during the Sziget festival, which took place between August 7 and 12. According to the National Tourism Data Service Center (NTAK), the capital's hotels registered a total of 336,000 guest nights, a tenth more than during last year's event, the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ) said on Tuesday.

    The interest of foreigners was particularly high, with 20% more visitors and 10 % more overnight stays in Budapest than during last year's festival.

    The economic and tourism yield of the event was even more visible compared to the week before Sziget: the number of overnight stays in the capital was a quarter higher than the previous week, while hotel revenues were more than a third higher.

    The 160,000 foreign guests who arrived during the biggest music festival of the summer spent 10% more nights in Budapest than during last year's event. Once again, the largest number of foreign travelers came from the Netherlands, followed by Italians, Britons, Germans and Spaniards, MTÜ said.

    According to the press release, Sziget also had a rejuvenating effect on the city's guest population: 59% of the tourists staying in Budapest during the festival were under 34. Among them, the most populous age group was 25-34 years old, with 29%, while 20% were young people aged 19-24 and 10% under 18.

    The NTAK data also shows that accommodation providers in District 3, which hosted the event, recorded 18 times as many nights spent by foreign visitors than a week earlier, and the increase in the district was also 2% compared to last year's festival.

    Due to the high interest in the capital's accommodation sector, which was also boosted by Sziget, the revenues of the capital's accommodation establishments also performed well these days: they amounted to around HUF 7.9 billion, 37% more than in the same period of the previous week.

    According to the data, the most visited attractions in the capital between August 7 and 12 were the area around the Parliament, Margaret Island, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Széchenyi Spa and Swimming Pool, and the Great Market Hall and its surroundings.