Guest nights spent at commercial accommodations by Hungarian and foreign tourists fell 10.6pc to 7.336m in January-June 2009 compared to the same period last year, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Friday.
Guest nights in June fell 5.7pc to 1.85m from a year earlier. The drop decelerated from May, when guest nights decreased 13.1pc yr/yr after a 4.3pc drop in April.
Foreign guest nights fell 4.3pc, while domestic guest nights decreased 7.1pc in June. In the previous month foreign guest nights fell 14.9pc and domestic guest nights fell 13.1pc in May. In the first half of the year foreigners spent 12.0pc less guest nights in Hungry than a year earlier and domestic guest nights fell 9.1pc.
The number of foreign guests at commercial accommodations in Hungary decreased 13.9pc yr/yr to 1.32m in January-June, and they spent 3.73m guest nights in the country, 12.0pc less than a year earlier. With the exception of Austria and Czech Republic, guest numbers fell from all the ten most important sender countries – Germany, Romania, Great Britain, Italy, France, United States, Poland, Spain –, with the steepest, 31.0pc fall registered in the number of British guest nights. The number of US guest nights fell 32.0pc yr/yr in January-June.
The number of domestic guests fell 8.9pc yr/yr to 1.65m in January-June and they spent 3.61m guest nights at commercial accommodations, 9.1pc less than one year earlier.
Gross revenue from accommodation and related services dropped 10.6pc to HUF 99.68bn (EUR 370.5m) in H1. Revenue from accommodations, excluding catering, amounted to HUF 56.325bn, down 9.9pc yr/yr.
Foreign guests accounted for HUF 35.77bn of gross revenue from accommodation in January-June, 11.5pc less than in the same period one year earlier. Revenue from domestic guests decreased 7.1pc to HUF 20.56bn.
Catering prices were up 5.1pc yr/yr in the first six months of 2009 and prices for accommodation rose 1.8pc, KSH said. The increases compared to a 3.7pc consumer price inflation in the period.
Hungary’s hotel occupancy rate was 39.1pc in the first six months of 2009. The occupancy rate was the highest, at 52.4pc, in spa hotels. Hotel occupancy rate rose to 45.4pc in June from 44.9pc in May.