Shopping Tourism in Hungary during the Period of the Economic Crisis

Abstract

The study analyses the impacts brought about by the economic crisis starting in 2007 on Hungarian shopping tourism. Considering the long-term symbiotic relationship of the national retail trade and international inbound tourism, the crisis, that has affected each segment of the national economy, has also influenced both the characteristics of tourist shopping and the structure and volume of retail trade, with an indirect impact on the country's GDP. The study investigates the purchases of day trippers arriving from the neighbouring countries, and focuses on changes that occurred between 2006-2010. The survey is based on the assumption that the sending markets have become more price-sensitive as a consequence of the crisis, and the changes brought about will be diverse, depending on the economic-social processes of each sending country. Demand is influenced by crisis management strategies, by the pricevalue ratio of goods and services available in the market, and by the business practices of retail companies. Based on secondary analysis of the databases of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the Hungarian National Bank, the paper provides an overview of how Hungarian shopping tourism was shaped by the above factors in the period of crisis.

Keeping it fresh: Revisiting an historic tourist city's streetscape improvement project

“…Weaver and Oppermann (2000) observed that 30% of Australian tourism dollars were spent shopping, a number consistent with Snepenger, Murphy, O'Connell, and Gregg's (2003) estimate that one third of American tourism dollars derive from retail expenditures, ranking second only to accommodations as a source of tourism revenues (Turner & Reisinger, 2001). For many travelers, shopping is a relaxing and fulfilling source of recreation (Timothy & Butler, 1995), and there is a strong and consistent symbiotic relationship between shopping and tourism satisfaction (Michalkó, Rátz, Hinek, & Tömöri, 2014). Tourists thus enjoy shopping and a community's tourism economic success is likely dependent upon providing a strong retail presence (Lehto, Chen, & Silkes, 2014;Wu, Wall, & Pearce, 2014).…”

Neighbouring countries – an important segment in inbound tourism An example of the European Union member states

“…Such obvious significance of the neighbouring markets for tourism in a particular country results from numerous factors. Undoubtedly, one of them is related to lower prices for some products or services (Michalkó, Rátz, Hinek and Tömöri, 2014). It is proved by T. T. Sikos and A. Kovács (2008) on the example of the Hungarian border shops during the devaluation of the forint.…”

„Hát megpróbálunk küzdeni”: átalakuló boldogulási stratégiák Kárpátalján az Euromajdan után

“…A vásárlással kapcsolatos tevékenységek, azaz a bevásárlóturizmus a 2000-es évek végéig erősen aszimmetrikus jelleggel bírt: a magyarok jóval nagyobb arányban utaztak bevásárlási szándékkal Ukrajnába (az utazások háromnegyedét ez tette ki), mint az ukránok Magyarországra (Kovály 2010). Ennek elsődleges oka a két ország termékei közötti árrés, valamint a forint-hrivnya árfolyam volt (Berghauer 2011), azonban e folyamatok alakulását általában komplex együtthatók eredményeiként kell vizsgálnunk (Michalkó et al 2014). Az általunk készített interjúk eredményeiből kiderül, hogy a magyarországiak bevá-sárlóturizmusa napjainkra veszített jelentőségéből, szemben az Ukrajnából érkező bevásárlóturisták számával.…”