In the days following Hungary’s national holiday, foreign tourism at Lake Balaton surged by 17 per cent, thanks in large part to the return of MotoGP racing, Visit Hungary reported on Monday.
Between 21–24 August, the Balaton region recorded 269,000 guests, a 5 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. This was driven by Hungary hosting a MotoGP Grand Prix for the first time since 1992. The world’s most-watched motorcycle series brought not only racing stars and teams but also a wave of international fans to towns across the region.
After the race venue at Balatonfőkajár, the sharpest rise in foreign visitors was seen in Tihany, Balatonkenese, Balatonalmádi, Veszprém, and Siófok. Most international tourists came from Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Romania, while numbers from Spain and Italy soared the most. Spanish visitors quadrupled compared to the week before, and Italians grew by one and a half times—reflecting the strong pull of their countrymen competing on the MotoGP podium.
The economic impact was striking. Accommodation revenues in Balatonfőkajár jumped to 18 times the level of the previous week, while the wider region’s lodging industry generated 5.8 billion forints, up 21 per cent year-on-year.
At the same time, the Zamárdi Strand Festival, running almost parallel to MotoGP, added to the tourism boom. The town saw a 38 per cent rise in foreign visitors and a 36 per cent increase in guest numbers compared to last year, generating over a quarter billion forints in accommodation income—22 per cent higher than in 2023.
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