The Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ) said on Wednesday that tourism accommodation providers in Budapest have already received close to 340,000 guest night bookings for August 19-27, when the World Athletics Championships will take place in the capital.
Data from the National Tourism Data Service Centre (NTAK) show more than 70% of the bookings were made by foreigners, mainly from Germany, Israel, and the United Kingdom, but also from Italy, Spain as well as Argentina, Australia, the United States, India, Canada and China. The majority of both foreign and Hungarian guests booked accommodation at four or five-star hotels. The competitors and the fans will spread the word about Hungary across the world, and some 1 billion people will watch the contests on television, which has an invaluable impact on tourism, MTÜ CEO Péter Horváth said. Around 50,000 foreign visitors are expected to come to Budapest exclusively to watch the championships, Balázs Németh, the CEO of the company organizing the event, has said.