Budapest welcomed 10% more tourists during concerts by music superstars Guns N’ Roses, Lionel Richie, and Jennifer Lopez last week, compared to the previous week, Visit Hungary told MTI on Wednesday.
“These musical legends mainly had a strong impact on domestic visitors: on the day of Axl Rose and his band’s concert, for example, the number of Hungarian guests in the capital was one-third higher than the week before,” the statement said.
According to data from the National Tourism Data Supply Centre (NTAK), between July 14 and 20, Budapest accommodations registered 175,000 guests and 347,000 guest nights.
The positive impact of international stars on tourism is reflected by the fact that guest traffic exceeded the previous week’s figures by 10%, and the number of guest nights increased by 8%, according to the statement.
They added that these “tourist magnets” are especially important for tourism not only because of their immediate impact on visitor numbers:
“Thanks to the social media posts and shares by the performing stars and their fans, millions more can receive our message that the experiences available in Budapest and Hungary are worth the journey — and even a return visit,”
said Olivér Csendes, CEO of Visit Hungary.
Foreign visitors accounted for 86% of the traffic. Most tourists came from the United Kingdom (8%), Germany (7%), the United States (6%), Poland (6%), and Spain (5%).
As reported, NTAK data also showed that the number of visitors from neighboring countries surged during certain concerts.
On the day of the Guns N’ Roses concert, for example, four times as many Croatian tourists visited Budapest as the previous week, and during Jennifer Lopez’s concert, three times as many Slovak tourists arrived in the city.
However, experts noted that the most significant growth came from domestic tourism: compared to the previous week, the number of Hungarian tourists increased by 15%.
During Jennifer Lopez’s Sunday concert, for instance, 20% more Hungarian guests stayed at Budapest accommodations than on the same day the week before.
According to the statement, the tourist surge also benefited hotels: on the days of the Guns N’ Roses and Jennifer Lopez concerts, hotel occupancy rates exceeded 70%, representing an 8-percentage-point increase compared to the week before.
Due to the heightened interest, accommodations were able to charge higher prices, the experts said.
(MTI)
