Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Hungarian population's decreasing real
income and the generally rather mediocre
quality of social tourism accommodation, price
increases were only partly accepted by the mar-
ket, which necessitated fundamental changes in
the system (Lengyel, Puczkó and Rátz, 1996,
unpublished report). Transformation of the
trade union hotel resorts began in 1992, when,
as part of the post-Communist privatization
process of Hungarian tourism, the government
established the Hungarian National Holiday
Foundation as the owner of the former social
tourism estates, and the Hunguest Company as
the management body. Direct state subsidies
through trade union membership were replaced
by a holiday cheque system in 1998, providing
organized holiday allowances to underprivi-
leged social groups, and supplementing holiday
bonuses offered by employers. As the system is
now mainly aimed at those in the lowest income
groups, participation is highly dependent on
employers' attitudes towards this type of remu-
neration. In 2004, the total sum of HUF 5.4bn
(
€
21.3m) was made available for social tourism
purposes, but rising demand continues to
exceed the availability of state subsidies (KSH,
2005a).
The most important elements of the TDP
related to health tourism, with state support
provided for:
development of health tourism attractions -
medical, wellness and fitness services;
●
increasing the capacity of accommodation
facilities as well as extensions and quality
improvements;
●
infrastructure development in bath towns;
●
cofinancing of feasibility studies;
●
marketing of health tourism facilitated by
the Health Tourism Department of the
HNTO; and
●
establishing bath clusters.
●
Altogether 74 baths and medical/thermal
hotels received state support in the form of non-
repayable subsidy amounting to HUF 29.2bn
(
€
115m). It is estimated that state support
generated additional investment
€
230m from
the private sector and some 2700 permanent
jobs were also created (GKM, 2003).
Since Budapest has been the most visited
destination, its historical baths - which are in the
top three attractions of the city (Budapest Tour-
ism Office, 2005, unpublished research report) -
attract large numbers of foreign visitors every
year. Most visit for reasons other than health-
related ones. They are more likely to be inter-
ested in the history and architecture of these
establishments. The baths are strong and charac-
teristic elements of the image and tourist attrac-
tions of Budapest. Since 1998, an approximately
additional HUF 7.2bn (
€
28m) has been spent
on reconstructions of baths in Budapest from
funds provided by the local government, tenders
and the baths themselves (GKM, 2003). Besides
the investments in infrastructural developments,
most of the resources were spent on the recon-
struction of thermal pools, facades, installation
of
The Current State of Spa and Health
Tourism in Hungary
The most important step to make this unique
asset of the country competitive in the
European and consequently in the world
market, was the so called Széchenyi Plan. This
development plan was aimed at the redevelop-
ment of already existing baths and the erection
of new ones, as the Ministry of Economy and
Transport stated:
As a medium-term economic development
programme, the Széchenyi Plan aims at laying
the foundations of permanent and sustainable
economic growth, widen and deepen the basis
of growth - according to sectors, branches and
regions.
automated
entrance
systems
and
interior
refurbishments.
It should be noted that baths and spas of
Hungary can sometimes be different from what
foreign visitors may expect by just looking at
the names of places. In Western Europe baths,
and especially spas, have been the cradle of a
certain cultural tradition from Roman times to
the mid-20th century (spa as a word probably
comes from the Latin words
espa
(fountain)
and
sparsa
,from
spargere
- to bubble up)
(Trabel.com, 2005). These spas were places
(GM, 2001, p. 1)
The Tourism Development Programme
(TDP) provided 33% of the total funds made
available for this plan between 2000 and 2003.
