Strong forint appeals to foreign holiday vendors, heavy blow to Hungarian hotels - paper

Hungary's firming forint has pleased tour operators selling holidays abroad, while the domestic hotel industry is facing losses in billions of forints, national daily Nepszabadsag reported on Wednesday.

[MTI] Holidays in a foreign country are tempting this summer with costs as much as 10 percent lower than last year, due to the strong forint, Veronika Bekefi, CEO of Neckermann travel agency told the paper.

Some companies translate the exchange gains into prices for consumers, but for many firms, where holidays had been booked in advance, the gains will increase profits, the paper said.

Hungary's hotels industry is not so fortunate - with 50 percent of rooms booked on contracts signed up to 12 months earlier, the strong forint may cause revenues to fall by as much as 8 percent this summer, chairman of the Hungarian Hotels Association Akos Niklai told the paper.

Many of the contracts were signed last year, when the forint traded 255 to the euro, he said. If the forint continues to firm, hotels will have to face an annual 6-8 percent loss on the exchange rate, he added.

The official central bank currency rate for the forint against the euro stood at 235.53 on July 1.