HUNGARY TOURISM ADMINISTRATIVE AND TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION

Government responsibility for tourism is located in the Ministry for National Economy. The Ministry oversees the national economic development including external and internal trade, the national budget and taxation, the employment policy, and the international economic relations.

The Minister performs tourism-related tasks through the Deputy State Secretary for Tourism. Within the Ministry, the Tourism and Catering Department is responsible for the elaboration and implementation of the national tourism development strategy, legislative tasks regarding tourism, international tourism co-operation, it is responsible for providing conceptual framework for the SZEP Card system and for the management and development of national trademark system and since 2009 it has been covering government responsibilities regarding the restaurant and catering industry.

The EU co-financed development programmes (incl. tourism related programmes) are managed by the Ministry for National Economy through the EU Funds Managing Authority. They are responsible for the co-ordination of the operational programmes’ planning, monitoring of their implementation, finalization of the calls for applications, selection of the developments and the investments to be awarded support.

The Minister of the Ministry for National Economy also oversees the activities of the Hungarian Tourism Ltd. (Hungarian National Tourist Office - HNTO), which is responsible for tourism promotion in Hungary and abroad.

The Hungarian Tourism Ltd. was established in 1994 with the core objective of improving Hungary’s image domestically and abroad, thereby helping to increase revenues from domestic and inbound tourism. The Hungarian Tourism Ltd. carries out its international marketing operations mainly through its global network. The yearly allocated Tourism Fund is supervised by the Ministry for National Development.

At the local level Local Tourism Destination Management Organisations’ (DMOs) have been set up. Currently 85 DMOs are registered. There are 248 local authorities, 3,138 businesses taking part in these DMOs which generated 10.3 million overnight stays in 2010 representing 55% of the total Hungarian guest nights

The Tourism and Catering Department of the Ministry for National Economy has a close co-operation with other government departments regarding tourism related issues (Ministry of Human Resources – cultural tourism, health tourism; Ministry of Rural Development – rural tourism development and ecotourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – travel advisories, visa issues, crisis management, Ministry for National Development – tourism marketing through the Hungarian National Tourism Office and the management of the Tourism Fund ), and the National Statistical Office, regarding tourism statistics. The Department also co-operates with the major tourism trade organisations and professional associations.

The country is divided into nine tourism regions. In these regions, the Regional Marketing Directorates of the Hungarian Tourism Ltd are responsible for regional tourism promotion.

To develop co-operation and social dialogue between the government and the tourism industry, the National Tourism Employers’ Association, and the Trade Union of the Hungarian Tourism and Catering Employees have established the Tourism and HORECA (Hotels, Restaurants and Catering) Branch Dialogue Committee. The committee constitutes part of the national social dialogue process and regular meetings are organised. The Committee’s most important aim is to work out a proposal for an overall strategy of the Hungarian catering sector.