In order to propose a repositioning toolkit, this research addresses the essence of the daytime tourism milieu of the Hungarian capital Budapest’s nightly party zone and formulates the following two research questions: (1) What are the available elements of the daytime tourism milieu of Budapest’s party zone? and (2) How can this milieu enhance tourist experience for leveraging a sense of place in a future post-Covid-19 era? The data for this research were collected with the help of 85 undergraduates, who were given the task of taking 3 photos, as if they were tourists, aiming to capture the best reflection of the daytime tourism milieu of Budapest’s party zone. A database of 255 photos was analysed through visual content analysis. Additionally, each image was assigned a location of the photo, five hashtags and a short description. The descriptions of the photos were analysed by Python programming and calculations. The findings show the most important research outcomes concerning Budapest’s party zone, focusing on the daytime values of the district. The research identified the “creative milieu”’, “Jewish heritage milieu” and “gastronomic milieu” as the most important daytime profiles of the party zone. Based on the findings, the authors propose a repositioning toolkit and a strategy which, on the one hand, will develop a stronger sense of place in the case of the tourism milieu of Budapest’s party zone and, on the other hand, will position the party zone not only as a place of nightlife but also as a venue of daytime tourism.

This paper addresses the phenomenon of overtourism in Budapest from multiple perspectives, starting with an overview that uses information collected from news, media, and academic tourism literature. Further, the phenomenon of overtourism is addressed quantitatively using different indicators, including tourism density and intensity. According to these indicators, the center of Budapest (formed by districts I, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX) has been strongly affected by the presence of tourists, while districts physically far from the center have been less affected. This fact suggests the heterogeneity of the city in terms of overtourism. The number one catalyst of the negative impacts of foreign visitors’ behavior is party tourism (‘ruin pub’ tourism), which involves an unconventional use of the Hungarian capital. Finally, using an unconventional optimization method called fuzzy linear programming, we attempt to explore the challenging problem of identifying the optimal number of tourists for the city. The results of the study have important theoretical, methodological, and practical implications. On the theoretical side, we offer a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of overtourism in Budapest. Methodologically, the integrated approach in terms of data gathering and unconventional analytical methodologies (comprised of a case study analysis, the assessment of effective indicators for measuring the discussed phenomenon, and the demonstration of the sustainable number of visitors) represents a novel perspective about the extent of overtourism in Budapest. On the practical side, our findings provide valuable guidance for policymakers to help mitigate the problem of overtourism in the city. With regard to future research, we suggest extending and updating the results presented in this study to develop more sustainable tourism strategies.

The aim of this study is to understand the push and pull travel motivations of domestic tourists in Hungary and examine its importance in building a positive destination brand of Lake Tisza region that will affect the decision process of the individuals. An interview was done with Tisza office to have a closer look to the development project of Lake Tisza; the existing brand image of the region was examined through destination observation and several on-site interviews. The data, collected through an online questionnaire and analysed using different statistical methods, shows that the push motivation which is relaxing away from the ordinary life is the most important for the domestic tourists in Hungary; nevertheless, the pull motivations are the basis which triggers the push motivations. It is suggested to brand the destination attributes of Lake Tisza region as a way of relaxing away from the ordinary life.

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