Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
has been and can be the product that makes
Hungary a favourite destination for European
visitors, since thermal baths have a long history
here.
The country's modern spa tourism supply
is built on ubiquitous Roman, Turkish and
Austro-Hungarian spa heritage, amongst others,
and Hungary is the fifth richest country in
thermal and healing waters after Japan, Iceland,
France and Italy. According to the natural heal-
ing assets register (HNTO, 2002), Hungary has
1289 thermal wells, of which 148 are mineral-
ized and 136 medicinal; five medicinal caves,
four medicinal mud sources, one mofetta (a
carbon dioxide bath); one natural healing lake
(Lake Hévíz); 39 medicinal baths; 57 medical
hotels; 41 wellness hotels; and 350 baths (with
approximately 1200 pools). Additionally, Budapest
has a special position among spa towns as being
the only such capital in the world. This position
was recognized in 1934 when it was awarded
the title of international spa city and Budapest
was chosen as a venue for the first International
Bath Congress in 1937.
It was the Romans who first capitalized on
Hungary's thermal waters in the 1st century,
when they built baths on the banks of the river
Danube. Although archaeologists have since
uncovered 21 baths from the Roman era, these
are only preserved as ruins today. The tradition
of bathing continued during the 15th-17th
.
cen-
turies; the Turkish baths and the oriental spa
culture that Hungarians adopted are among the
positive legacies of the country's 150-year-long
Turkish occupation. The historic baths of the
capital city and the countryside are equally
popular as leisure facilities for local residents
and heritage attractions for tourists.
The third golden age of spa-going in
Hungary started in the 19th century when
balneology - the study of the art and science of
bathing - became popular. The establishment
of the 'Balneological Society of the Countries of
the Hungarian Holy Crown' in 1891 (MBE,
2005) facilitated scientific cooperation in
balneology, thus resulting in a more effective
healing process and contributing to the devel-
opment of medical spas around the country.
The period's typically science-oriented focus on
the medicinal values of natural waters signifi-
cantly affected Hungarian spa tourism develop-
ment during the 20th century.
By 1920, due to the Trianon Peace Treaty
ending World War I, Hungary lost more than
two-thirds of its territory, and the majority of the
country's internationally established thermal
and mineral spas (e.g. Pöstyén, Trencsényteplic,
Bártfa, Szováta, Herkulesfürd
O
and Tusnád)
were located beyond the newly-drawn borders.
As a consequence, the focus of health tourism
development shifted to the exploitation of the
thermal resources of Budapest and other desti-
nations within the country such as Hévíz and
Balatonfüred at Lake Balaton. World War II
interrupted the progress of Hungarian spa tour-
ism development, and in the post-war decades
tourism development in the newly established
socialist political system was mostly limited to
state-controlled social tourism, domestic trips
subsidized by the state or by trade unions. Most
of these domestic visitors chose a hotel or guest
house that was either near to Lake Balaton or to
a bath/spa. The number of guests showed a
steady growth throughout the socialist period:
while in 1949 only 250,000 state-supported
domestic guests were registered, their number
increased to 1,411,000 by 1986, a 560% increase
(Lengyel, Puczkó and Rátz, 1996, unpublished
research report, Budapest University of Eco-
nomic Sciences, Tourism Research Centre). This
reflected both a continuous increase in the
state's financial support, and the expansion of
the state-managed accommodation sector.
However, the state's financial contribution
ceased to increase from 1982, so the National
Council of Trade Unions, the coordinator of the
system, was no longer able to operate it on
the sole basis of social tourists' significantly dis-
counted payments. Consequently, a certain pro-
portion of the available beds were offered on the
commercial market, resulting in a decrease in
both bed capacity and guest numbers: while in
1984 social tourism offered 25,350 beds, by
1996 this figure had fallen to 11,286 beds, and
commercial tourists accounted for 64% of all
the registered guests (Lengyel, Puczkó and Rátz,
1996, unpublished research report, Budapest
University
of
Economic
Sciences,
Tourism
Research Centre).
The decline of social tourism demand in
the 1980s may be attributed to various reasons.
As state subsidies dwindled, operators were
forced to either increase prices or find supple-
mentary sources of income. However, due to
