Number of tourist arrivals (nearly 1.2 million) up 0.6% year-on-year and tourism nights (2.7 million) up 0.9%
In March 2026, nearly 1.2 million guests spent 2.7 million tourism nights at tourist (commercial, private and other) accommodation establishments1. Tourist arrivals were up by 0.6% and tourism nights by 0.9% in number compared to a year earlier. In January-March 2026, domestic arrivals at tourist accommodation establishments were 3.5% higher than a year earlier, while international arrivals rose by 2.8%.
In March 2026:
Overall, the number of tourist arrivals increased by 0.6% and that of tourism nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by 0.9%. Based on seasonally adjusted data, the number of arrivals fell by 0.9%, while that of tourism nights remained unchanged compared to March 2025. 74% of guests arrived at commercial accommodation establishments, where their number grew by 3.4% from the previous year. Private and other accommodation establishments recorded 6.9% fewer tourist arrivals than a year earlier.
The number of domestic tourist arrivals and domestic tourism nights was 1.8% and 4.1% higher respectively than in the same month of the previous year. Based on seasonally adjusted data, the number of domestic arrivals grew by 2.2% and that of domestic tourism nights by 1.6% compared to March 2025. The 560 thousand domestic guests spent 1.2 million tourism nights at tourist accommodation establishments, within which commercial accommodation establishments registered 436 thousand tourist arrivals and 947 thousand tourism nights. Hotels received 84% of the latter arrivals, where their number grew by 5.1% compared to a year earlier. The number of domestic tourist arrivals in private and other accommodation was 5.8% lower than in March 2025. Compared to the same month of the previous year, the number of domestic arrivals increased the most in the regions of Gyula as well as Győr and Pannonhalma2 (both by 15%) and fell the most (by 10%) in the Sopron tourism area. The number of domestic arrivals to tourist accommodation establishments was 12% higher in Budapest and 2.5% lower at Lake Balaton.
The number of international tourist arrivals and international tourism nights fell by 0.6% and 1.5% compared to the same month of the previous year. Based on seasonally adjusted data, the number of international arrivals grew by 0.9% and that of international tourism nights declined by 0.5% compared to March 2025. The 598 thousand international guests having arrived at tourist accommodation establishments spent nearly 1.5 million tourism nights there, of which commercial accommodation establishments registered 424 thousand tourist arrivals and about 1.1 million tourism nights. Hotels received 87% of the latter arrivals, where their number was 1.6% higher than a year earlier. The number of foreign tourist arrivals in private and other accommodation establishments was 7.6% lower than in March 2025. Compared to the same month last year, the number of international arrivals increased the most in Greater Budapest (by 15%) and fell the most in the Pécs region (by 23%). The number of international arrivals to tourist accommodation was 0.7% higher in Budapest and 1.0% lower at Lake Balaton.
A total of 19,362 tourist accommodation establishments, within which 2,176 commercial and 17,186 private or other accommodation establishments welcomed guests.
Of commercial accommodation establishments, 933 hotels and 892 boarding houses were open for part or all of March.
The total gross sales revenue of tourist accommodation establishments amounted to HUF 71.2 billion, 3.0% more at current prices than a year earlier.
Széchenyi Recreation Card was used by cardholders to spend HUF 2.4 billion, 6.3% more at current prices compared to the same month of the previous year, at tourist accommodation establishments.
In January-March 2026 compared to the same period of the previous year:
Tourist accommodation establishments recorded a total of nearly 3.3 million arrivals, up 3.1%.
The number of domestic and international arrivals at tourist accommodation establishments increased by 3.5% and 2.8%, reaching about 1.6 million and 1.7 million respectively.
Summary data
| Indicator | Value | Change on same period of previous year, % | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | January–March 2026 | March 2026 | January–March 2026 | |||||
| tourist accommodation establishments | of which: commercial accommodation establishments | tourist accommodation establishments | of which: commercial accommodation establishments | tourist accommodation establishments | of which: commercial accommodation establishments | tourist accommodation establishments | of which: commercial accommodation establishments | |
| Domestic tourist arrivals, thousands | 560 | 436 | 1563 | 1231 | 1.8 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 5.2 |
| International tourist arrivals, thousands | 598 | 424 | 1730 | 1210 | –0.6 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 6.6 |
| Tourist arrivals, total, thousands | 1158 | 859 | 3293 | 2440 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 5.9 |