The Association of Hungarian Hotels & Restaurants (Magyar Szállodák és Éttermek Szövetsége - MSZÉSZ) is lobbying for the modification of the government decree on tour operation, because its definition of travel packages also includes hotels, president László Könnyid said at the industry grouping's general meeting on 20 March in Visegrád.

Delegates also heard that MSZÉSZ has commissioned advisory firm PwC to draw up sample in-house rules for hotels before the EU's new data protection regulation (GDPR) takes effect in May.

The association is also planning to weigh in on the regulation of short-term private room rentals (partially through online platforms like Airbnb), as new real estate developments in Budapest will bring about 2,500 available rooms to the short-term rental market in 2018-19, Könnyid said.

The association now has 599 members, up from 557 a year ago

Source: turizmus.com

Zoltán Guller, chief executive of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, said in his presentation that hotel revenues and guest nights continued to increase in January, following a record year in 2017.

He said guest nights increased by about 20% in Budapest and Lake Balaton and visitor numbers from France and Germany have significantly increased,

The agency's promotion campaign contributed to growth this winter and local hotels are also expected to benefit from the ten long weekends with public holidays through the rest of this year, Guller said.

The government has received 859 applications from local guesthouses for state subsidies in the Kisfaludy Program, he added. The results in this segment will be announced in April.

Applications are still arriving for hotel construction subsidies in another segment of the program, which now covers five geographical regions in the country, he said.

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