Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1989. január-június (43. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1989-05-25 / 21. szám

Thursday, May 25. 1989.

AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO

11.

A WO CD IN EDGEWAYS

TOURISM AND PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

Tourism is one of the growth industries of Hungary in the export field. The nearly 20 million visitors last year was an all-time record and the figures for 1988 also look promising. The pattern of tourism is slowly shifting with more and more visitors coming to Hungary from Western countries bringing with them much needed hard currency. This pattern is likely to continue not least because of the recent congress of the American Society of Travel Agents which was held here in Budapest. The long-term impact of that meeting should be an increase in the numbers of visitors from the United States.

There is certainly scope for an increase in tourism from the English speaking world. Visitors from Great Britain, for example, are pretty thin on the ground. Less than

50,000 come to Hungary every year, and that includes business travellers. It explains why there is surprisingly only one flight a day between London and Budapest.

My impression is that there is a market here which is lying unexploited. Hungary is in many respects a tourist's paradise. Good weather in the summer, plenty of places to visit and things to do, and - for Westerners at least - relatively inexpensive services, all add up to a great attraction for tourists. Yet the numbers coming from Britain are pretty low.

If asked for an explanation I would point the finger at the lack of good marketing of Hungary in Britain. Perhaps it's been easier to "sell" Hungary in the nearer count- tries like Austria and the FRG, but I am sure there is untapped potential in Great Britain. Some signs are encouraging. The London publishers of the famous "Blue Guide" series are planning to issue a guide to Hungary in early 1990 and a return visit of Margaret Thatcher to Hungary is on the cards. But without the appropriate background marketing, such events are small beer.

Maybe it should be asked, though, whether more tourists is what Hungary requires. True, hard currency is required and that's what the tourists bring. But they also bring some headaches from the environmental and quality of life point of view.

Some months ago at the beginning of this year's tourist season I visited Tihany, a peninsula on the north east shore of Lake Balaton. On the top of the hill there is one of Hungary's most splendid Baroque churches, built in the early 18th century. On the day of my visit I counted approximately twenty coaches in the nearby parking area and every few minutes another coach would arrive disgorging its load of sightseers.

In the church itself there was no room to pause and admire the intricately carved organ loft as the constant stream of visitors simply swept you through the church What on earth would it be like at the height of the season, I thought to myself. It seemed to me that saturation point had already been reached at this particular tourist attraction.

One response to this kind of overkill

BUDAPEST. Trade packaging from the late 19th century to Art Nouveau was the title of an exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts. Entering the exhibition hall, the visitor is greeted by a unique scene. The outside world is locked out, and we are "window shopping" among small outlets dating back to the 19th century and to later historical periods. Advertisements are invariably attractive and in good taste. Everything serves the customer, therefore shopping is a genuine pleasure in this environment. Boxes and other containers are made of various materials including wood, wicker, cardboard or tin, covered outside with colorful printed paper, gilded leather, pearl, embroidered textile or bead-work, and lined with velvet, silk or printed paper inside.

These boxes, cases, and paper bags hide veritable secrets. Secrets should be unco-, vered. So let's walk into the shop. The exhibits were restored by Katalin Soos, and some of the objects were lent by private collectors.

T.Cs.

(From the Trade Journal)

Chocolate packaging. Colored paper; application; chromolithography in a frame of embossed golden paper. Hungarian, around 1870.

Sándor Solymossy (1864-1945) was for years professor of ethnology at Szeged University between the wars, and achieved substantial results in collecting and interpreting folk tales and ancient beliefs.

seems to be to try to attract visitors to other, less well known, areas. Hungary has plenty to offer, though the infrastructure needs to be built up in many areas.

But it's also easier said than done. The tourist industry has its own momentum. Beauty spots and attractions become commodities to be "sold" in quantity. Like with any other mass product, quality can

often suffer. „ . _

Bob Dent

Six former officials of the Rumanian Communist Party have sent a letter to President Nicolae Ceausescu attacking the Rumanian leader's hard-line policies, Western diplomats and Eastern bloc journalists in Bucharest said today.

The letter accused Mr. Ceausescu of violating human rights agreements signed by Rumania, of ignoring the constitutional rights of citizens and of mismanaging the economy and agriculture. The six signers are prominent Rumanians who have held senior Communist Party posts. The letter is seen as the biggest challenge to Mr. Ceausescu's 24-year rule since worker riots in Brasov, in central Rumania, in 1987.

In the letter, a copy of which was made available here by Rumanian emigre groups, the signers attacked Mr. Ceausescu for failing to observe the 1975 Helsinki Accords on human rights, which Rumania has signed.

Changes Rejected

It also accused the Rumanian leader, who has rejected changes pressed by the Soviet Union and other Communist nations, for ignoring the Constitution.

Relocations Criticized

The letter singled out Mr. Ceausescu's program to slash the number of villages and to move peasants to new urban centers, saying this violated the constitutional right to property.

The letter took issue with an unpublished but widely feared law banning Rumanians from talking to foreigners.

The signers appealed to the Rumanian leader to scrap the rural reorganization program, to restore the constitutional guarantees of citizens and to end food exports. "Once this has been done, we are willing to take part in a constructive dialogue with the leadership," the signers concluded.

FLIGHTS BETWEEN HUNGARY AND ISRAEL

t

MALÉV Hungarian and EL AL Israeli Airlines started negotiations in the Summer of 1988 on launching charter flights between Budapest and Tel-Aviv. The necessity of the direct air link was brought about by the considerable increase in the number of air traveleres between the two countries by the end of the 1980s. Israeli-conducted tours to biblical sites are being taken by an increasing number of Hungarian tourists.

The economic relations between the two countries have also been consolidated and the quantity of Hungarian exports along with imports from Israel are increasing each year.

At present the two airlines can only sell air tickets through general agency in each other's country. For the charter flights started by Malév in the autumn of 1988 they opened up a local representation, an office in Tel-Aviv.

Agreement was concluded and flights are in progress.

Six Former Party Figures Say the Government Violates the Rights of Citizens