Hungary’s tourism sector expanded in 2025, moving closer to pre-pandemic volumes but remaining below the 2019 record, according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH). Tourism accounted for 10.2% of Hungary’s GDP that year, generating a HUF 1.749 trillion surplus in the services trade balance and employing approximately 420,000 people.
Foreign Visitor Metrics Drive Growth
The growth in Hungary’s tourism in 2025 was primarily driven by foreign visitors. The number of foreign arrivals rose by 4.4% compared to 2024. These visitors also extended their stays by 15%, while their expenditures increased by 12%. Multi-day travelers from Austria, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States
saw the sharpest increases. Demand also strengthened from tourists originating in Asian and South American countries, as well as from France.
Regional Tourism Developments
Four out of every ten guest nights in Hungary were registered in Budapest in 2025. Tourists from eight countries accounted for half of all foreign guest nights. Budapest and its surroundings experienced the fastest growth in both domestic and foreign guest traffic. Domestic destinations such as Pécs-Villány, particularly Siklós and Harkány, showed strong performance among Hungarian travelers. For foreign visitors, Szeged and its region, including Makó, stood out. Regions including Tokaj and the Nyíregyháza area saw the least benefit
from the tourism expansion.
Domestic Travel Patterns and Spending
Less than half of Hungary’s population participated in multi-day domestic tourism in 2025. However, those who traveled domestically took more trips, stayed longer, and increased their spending. Hungarian tourists made roughly three times as many domestic trips as foreign ones. On one-day trips, Hungarians spent an average of HUF 9,100 domestically compared to HUF 40,300 abroad. For multi-day travel, daily spending on foreign trips was about twice the amount spent domestically.
Accommodation Trends and Early 2026 Performance
Hotels accounted for over 53% of guest traffic in Hungarian accommodation establishments in 2025. Private accommodation hosted approximately one-fifth of guests, with paid private accommodations
representing 19% of foreign visitors’ accommodation use. Early data from 2026 indicated a 4.5% increase in accommodation traffic at the beginning of the year, slowing to 0.6% in March and then declining by 1% in April compared to 2025.
Regulatory restrictions in Terézváros (District VI of Budapest) reduced local accommodation capacity by 40% in 2026, leading to a 28% drop in guest traffic in that district during the first quarter. Excluding Terézváros, Budapest reported a 12% increase in guest traffic in early 2026. The decline in foreign guest numbers in April 2026 was likely influenced by Middle East conflicts affecting
visitors from some countries, including Israel.
Deputy president of KSH, Tamás Tóth, described tourism as a critical engine for Hungary’s services sector, stating, “Including linked services and indirect effects, tourism accounted for 10.2% of GDP in 2025.” He added that tourism generated the largest surplus in the services trade balance and accounted for about one-tenth of domestic employment.
Eszter Németh, head of KSH’s Services Statistics Department, emphasized the role of foreign visitors by noting, “The upward trend was mainly due to foreign visitors, who came to Hungary in greater numbers, spent more time here and spent more money than a
year earlier.” She also highlighted that fewer Hungarians took part in domestic tourism recently, but those who traveled did so more often and spent more.
