April was an extraordinary month. All our expectations were surpassed,” remarks Adrian Gray, director of Le Méridien in Budapest, gauging the feeling of the hotel industry in the Hungarian capital. After a disappointing year 2003 like everywhere else in Europe, the beginning of the year was marked by growth in the occupancy rate, “that was the same across all segments,” remarks Akos Niklai, president of the Hungarian hotel association and Vice Président of the Hungarian Tourism Board.The city’s global RevPAR, on a continuous growth curve since last September , posted a 48% increase in April! On 12 months running end April, the increase reached 19%! The months of May and June look good and the summer season, generally very busy with its peak period at the time of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, looks quite promising…The city’s hoteliers began to post an increase in occupancy in September 2003 . International travel was regaining its colour and Hungary’s forthcoming membership to the European Union gave the “Pearl of the Danube” a good start. And this uptrend was even more pronounced as the fateful date of May 1 grew closer: 74.3% in October versus 67.6% in 2002; 63.3% in March 2004 versus 48.7% in 2003 and finally 75.9% versus 62.3% for the month of April, resulting in a differential in the occupancy rate of 13.6 points! The winter season, traditionally weak in this city with its continental climate, posted occupancy rates that were up by 6 to 9 points. In the end, the occupancy rate across twelve cumulated months in the Hungarian capital is 5 points higher in 2003-2004 with respect to 2002-2003.All customer segments played a role in this bright spell, the meeting and congress segment in particular. Budapest as a member of the future 25-country European Union thus attracted “many...