ANNUAL TOURISM REPORTING. Country: HUNGARY

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1 ANNUAL TOURISM REPORTING Country: HUNGARY Article 3 of Council Decision 86/664/EEC 1 of 22 December 1986 establishing a consultation and cooperation procedure in the field of tourism stipulates that: "...each Member State shall send the Commission, once a year, a report on the most significant measures it has taken and, as far as possible, on measures it is considering taking in the provision of services for tourists which could have consequences for travellers from the other Member States. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof". The following reporting form aims at facilitating compliance with this Council Decision. SECTION 1 TOURISM ORGANISATION AND GOVERNANCE This section is aimed at reporting on the following: Administrative organisation Territorial organisation Organisation and links between the national tourism authority and the provinces / regions Organisation and links between the national tourism authority and industry associations, stakeholders and customers 1.1. Please provide a short description of the administrative and territorial organisation of public bodies responsible for tourism, indicating the relationship and cooperation between national, regional and local bodies of the core responsibilities and competences of each department (Ma characters) Government responsibility for tourism is located in the Ministry for National Economy. The Ministry oversees the national economic development including internal trade, the national budget and taation, the employment policy, and the international economic relations. The Minister performs tourism-related tasks through the Deputy State Secretary for Tourism. Within the Ministry the Tourism and Catering Department is responsible for the elaboration and implementation of the national tourism development strategy, legislative tasks regarding tourism, international tourism co-operation, it is responsible for providing conceptual framework for the SZEP Card system and for the management and development of national trademark system and since 2009 it has been covering government responsibilities regarding the restaurant and catering industry. The EU co-financed development programmes (incl. tourism related programmes) are managed by the State Secretary for the Utilisation of EU Funding. They are responsible for the co-ordination of the operational programmes planning, monitoring of their implementation, finalization of the calls for applications, selection of the developments and the investments to be awarded support. The Minister of the Ministry for National Economy also supervises the activities of the Hungarian 1 1&pgs=10&hwords= 1

2 Tourism Ltd. (Hungarian National Tourist Office HNTO), which is responsible for tourism promotion in Hungary and abroad. The Hungarian Tourism Ltd. was established in 1994 with the core objective of improving Hungary s image domestically and abroad, thereby helping to increase revenues from domestic and inbound tourism. The Hungarian Tourism Ltd. carries out its international marketing operations mainly through its global network. The yearly allocated Tourism Fund is supervised by the Ministry for National Economy. In local level Local Tourism Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) network has been set up. Nowadays 86 DMOs are registered. There are 267 local authorities, 3,167 businesses taking part in these DMOs Please provide an organisation chart reflecting the above described administrative and territorial organisation Please list and describe briefly the relationship and main areas of cooperation between national/regional public tourism bodies and the most significant / active private organisations / stakeholders / industry associations /unions / consumer organisations. (Ma characters) The Tourism and Catering Department of the Ministry for National Economy has a close co-operation with other government departments regarding tourism related issues (Ministry of Human Resources cultural tourism, health tourism; Ministry of Agriculture rural tourism development and ecotourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade travel advisories, visa issues, crisis management), and the CentralStatistical Office, regarding tourism statistics. The Department also co-operates with the major tourism trade organisations and professional associations. The country is divided into nine tourism regions. In these regions, the Regional Marketing Directorates of the Hungarian Tourism Ltd are responsible for regional tourism promotion. 2

3 What is the eisting national/regional specific legislation on tourism? (Ma. 500 characters) In Hungary, tourism is regulated in the Act on Commerce (Act 164/2005) and there are certain Government and Ministerial Decrees that regulate the different types of activities. - Government Decree 281/2008. (XI. 28) on travel contract - Government Decree 213/1996. (XII.23) on tour operator and travel agent activity - Government Decree 239/2009. (X.20) on commercial accommodation services - Government Decree 173/2003. (X.28) on non-commercial, recreational accommodation services - Government Decree 141/2011. (VII.21) on time share in accommodation establishments, on distance contracts concerning holiday products and on provision of long-term right to use accommodation establishments - Ministerial Decree 33/2009. (XII.18) on tour guiding activities - Ministerial Decree 14/2008. (XII.20) on equestrian services - Ministerial Decree 3/1992. (I.13) on the qualifying eamination of tour operators SECTION 2 - MEMBER STATE ECONOMIC DATA AND TOURISM BUDGETS This section is intended to provide an overview of the key statistical information about the general tourism economic environment of the Member States. Data marked with green is also collected by Eurostat. Data marked with orange is equally collected by the OECD. The data categories match the templates of these two organisations, therefore data reported to the Commission can be transferred / used when reporting to Eurostat and OECD and vice-versa. The statistical data provided in the tables below shall cover the year 2012 and, if available, The data collected through these sections will also feed into the future Virtual Tourism Observatory. Please use the Ecel templates provided below in order to facilitate coherence and comparability of the data. Please note that you are only requested to fill in data that is available in your country. Please insert "N/A" for those that you are not able to provide. Microsoft Ecel Worksheet SECTION 3 NATIONAL TOURISM POLICY AND STRATEGIES This section aims at collecting information on the Member States general strategic vision as well as the specific objectives of their tourism policies. 3

4 3.1. Please provide information in bullet points on the key mission, main medium and long-term objectives and the main targets of your national tourism policy. (Ma characters) Our long term objectives are as follows: Enhancing the competitiveness of our tourism by innovative, creative, high-quality product and supply development Development of an environment which can improve our competitiveness, promote job preservation and creation Strengthening the institutional system of tourism based on co-operation of local-regional destination management organizations Opening towards the East including international marketing and sales promotion Horizontal principles: commitment to quality services, highlighting and strengthening national values such as unique profile, sustainability, environmental consciousness. Tourism development in Hungary was directed by the priorities defined in the National Tourism Development Strategy (NTDS) and the New Széchenyi Development Plan s Healing in Hungary Program. From 2011 this document was the base of support schemes financed from EU Structural Funds. The objective of the governmental interventions was the enhancement of tourism supply by providing financial support for the development of attractions, the improvement of tourism services (accommodation and other) and to strengthen the territorial institutional system by stimulating tourist destination management organisations activities. In addition further actions has been taken in order to develop incoming and domestic tourism, to harmonize legal regulation in line with EU directives, to eliminate administrative burdens encumbering tourism businesses and to simplify formalities for tourists arriving from non-eu countries. For the new planning period the Tourism Development Concept is under finalisation. The document is to be approved by the Government in Do you have a multi-annual national tourism strategy specific / relevant for tourism in place? If yes, please describe in bullet points the main medium and longterm objectives of the strategy as well as who is responsible for its implementation. How is the implementation monitored and how often? (Ma characters) For the new planning period the Tourism Development Concept is under finalisation. The document is to be approved by the Government in The initiator of the new concept is the Tourism and Catering Department of the Ministry for National Economy due to its responsibility for strategic planning of national economic development. The idea behind is that the Government s primary economic mission is to create favourable business, financial conditions for tourism development and SMEs involved in the sector. 4. TOURISM CHALLENGES, MEASURES AND INITIATIVES This section aims at collecting information on the challenges the Member states and the tourism industry has to deal with as well as the measures put in place to tackle them Please identify the key challenges for the tourism sector in your country and indicate their importance /priority in the table below. 4

5 CHALLENGES Diversification of the tourism offer Protection of the cultural heritage Protection of the natural heritage ICT and innovation Connectivity and transport Employment in tourism Improving education and skills in tourism Combatting seasonality Demographic changes Improving accessibility of tourism Improving socio-economic data in tourism Economic crisis and recovery Improving the sustainability of tourism offer Combatting climate change Improving the quality of tourism offer Developing responsible tourism practices Competition against other destinations Administrative / regulatory burden, bureaucracy Other, please specify IMPORTANCE / PRIORITY HIGH MEDIUM LOW 4.2. Please describe briefly the main measures in your country aimed at tackling the key high-priority challenges indicated above. (Ma characters) Cultural tourism (incl. cultural heritage) is one of the key tourism products that Hungary offers to foreign and domestic visitors. We work together closely with organizations responsible for the Hungarian cultural heritage in order to achieve both objectives: conserving the cultural heritage and showing it to a wide public. In 2011, the Parliament adopted the Act on World Heritage (2011/LXXVII). The law summarizes the rules and restrictions on the Hungarian World Heritage sites, and help to determine the potential for development opportunities as well. The World Heritage Act provides a legal framework to the management plans of each site, in which also tourism appears to ensure information to local governments and potential investors on the opportunities, restrictions and prohibitions regarding all individual sites. The plans are being elaborated and consulted by the relevant stakeholders and ministries. In the area of human resource development we have to analyse the results of the new structure of the vocational training and higher education system and analyse it in the light of the new labour market trends of the industry. Series of consultation have started between the relevant governmental bodies, educational institutes (universities, high schools etc.) involved trade associations (hotel, travel agents, meeting organisers, baths). In the field of inbound tourism, the most successful measure has been the Budapest Winter Invitation campaign, which aim is inviting tourists to Budapest in the off-season: between November 5

6 and April. The campaign attracts more and more visitors to the Hungarian capital while more and more hotels and other service providers join it. The campaign s total budget is about EUR 1 million. During the winter of the ninth campaign is going to be organized. What refers to domestic tourism, the Hungarian Tourism Ltd.. has several initiatives with the regions and service providers (e.g. Open Cellar Days, the Goose Tour on Saint Martin s Day, Open Balaton) Hungary makes use of the European Destinations of Ecellence (EDEN) program of the European Union within the framework of which we could draw attention to accessible tourism. At the same time this issue contributed to the education of society s approach towards disabled people s tourism. To support high quality services a national trademarking system has been established since 2009 when obligatory qualification of accommodation was eliminated. Joining the national trademark system is optional, but it contributes to distinguish good quality service providers from non-qualified services, to strengthen consumer consciousness and to provide guidelines for the easier selection of services. National trademark qualifications were set up until the end of 2012 for rural accommodations, private rooms, holiday camps, camping sites and hotels. To further improve the quality of the accommodation establishments a trademarking system (1-3 backpack) has been developed for hostels as well. The application process started in April, and 3 establishments have already submitted its application. Together with the Hungarian Kayak-Canoe Association the Ministry for National Economy established the trademarking system for water tourism stops e.g. boat stages in December More than 25 water tourism stops have already initiated the qualification. A national trademarking system has been worked out for the Hungarian spas as well. In April the first and at the same time the highest value trademark (5 star) was given to the Rudas Thermal Bath. To tackle the bureaucracy and to simplify the authorisation and notification process of the enterprises a special one-stop-shop procedure has been elaborated. The application has to be submitted to the regional and local government or municipalities and during the procedure the permissions of the relevant public authorities are requested from them by the authority issuing the license of operation Please identify if any of the above mentioned challenges relate to any legislative measures at EU level, and how. (Ma characters) None 4.4. Please identify and describe any measures implemented in your country to increase tourism flows from other EU Member States and from third countries. (Ma characters) As regards inbound tourism development, in connection with our Governments policy of opening towards the East and opening towards the South besides our traditional markets, Hungary is trying to find new potentials from emerging markets such as the former member states of the Soviet Union (CIS countries), the GCC countries or other Far East Asian countries to attract additional visitors. In these cases visa requirements currently seem to be an obstacle to tourism therefore we believe it is important to look for new alternatives within the eisting policy framework (EU Visa Code), which can provide greater travel mobility while maintaining the level of national security. Beside tailor-made activities on the traditional source markets, more attention has to be paid to emerging markets (i.e. Russia, China, etc.) and the Central European countries growing demand. In order to be successful Hungary is establishing new relations in the field of tourism diplomacy with potential new source markets (i.e. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, etc.) in order to enhance tourism cooperation. The opportunities offered by regional co-operations (i.e. Visegrád countries) can also be eploited on third markets (i.e. Brazil, USA and Japan). The national tourism marketing organizations of the countries in the "Visegrád Cooperation" have pursued coordinated tourism marketing activities in markets of third countries since The collaboration aims at the promotion of the Central European region in markets where a single country cannot be represented independently due to the large geographical distances. These countries are the following: USA, South-America, Japan, China, India, 6

7 South-Korea, Southeast Asia and Singaporer, Eastern parts of Russia and CIS. The cooperation specifically works for directing the attention of professionals of the given country to V4 countries and to their tourism offers through jointly eecuted actions, for increasing the inbound traffic from these source markets. In order to achieve this goal, the organizations of the four countries have established a separate marketing fund within their annual budget. The tourism cooperation of China and the Central and Eastern European Countries aims at the joint promotion of the region in order to increase the visibility of the CEE region in the Chinese tourism market and present CEE as one single destination. In the framework of the cooperation China and the CEECs are commited to create and echange databases containing the list of members of tourism industry of China and the CEECs,to contribute to the development of new tourism routes, products and packages, to provide information for the actors of tourism industries of the cooperation partners on visa related issues for tourism purposes, to hold one forum per year for all the cooperating organizations Please describe how promotional measures implemented in your country make use of / capitalise on the promotional campaigns carried out by the Commission (i.e. Ready for Europe, EDEN, low-season tourism campaigns, etc.). (Ma characters) Hungary has actively participated in the European Destinations of Ecellence (EDEN) program from the very beginning as of The successful presentation to the international audience and the growing popularity of the winners chosen during the recent years confirm that we have good reasons to be proud of these regions. The Hungarian Tourism Ltd. usually offers some awards, thus the winner destination of 2013 (Kaposvár and the Zselic area 2013 Best destination in Accessible tourism ) received 2 million HUF (cca Euro) for the development of its marketing assets and special promotional opportunities in the media and on the web-site of the HNTO, whereas the other applicants were also given multi-level promotion support. In 2015 the year s theme is Tourism and local gastronomy, and just like in the last years Hungary will take part in the competition in order to present our gastronomy values Please identify and describe any measures /actions in your country which contribute to maimising the potential of national policies for developing tourism (e.g. ensuring that tourism interests are taken into account in the development of other policies which may have impact on tourism). (Ma.1000 characters) Hungarian taation system contains elements to support tourism.the accommodation services VAT is 18% which is 9 percentage points lower than the average rate (27%). The Széchenyi Recreation Card (SzRC) system in addition to stimulating domestic tourism has further contribution to the competitiveness of the Hungarian tourism service providers, as they have to pay only 1.5% commission after a transaction Please identify and describe any measures/actions in your country which contribute to maimising the potential of EU Financial Instruments for developing tourism (e.g. information on main objectives, financing opportunities, training courses, etc.). (Ma characters) The Government Decree 1173/2015. (III.24.) on the 2015 annual financial framework for Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme (EDIOP) indicates the planned support schemes for the year Regarding priority ae 8 (Financial Instruments), it contains the setting up of a loan fund to improve the SME s competitiveness. This loan will be available for the enterprises in the tourism sector as well. Along with the principle of overall SME funding, the refundable subsidies will 7

8 come more and more into focus in the area of tourism as well. The conditions for this new financial instrument will be determined in order not to be a rival for other already eisting means, but be appealing enough to boost investments on the touristic market. 4.8 Please describe shortly which EU programmes are used the most frequently and for what purposes of tourism development in your country. (Ma characters) The most important programme was the National Strategic Reference Framework Hungary cofinanced by ERDF and the Hungarian Government between years As part of Regional Development Operational Programmes, tourism was one of the eligible development areas for funding. Since 2007 a total of 1119 tourism projects have received 1,043 billion Euros of subsidization. So far 893 investment projects have been implemented, from which 471 aimed at tourism service developments (e.g. accommodation) with a subsidy of M Euros, 543 investments were tourism attractions development projects with a subsidy of M Euros, furthermore 108 Tourism Destination Management Organisations were supported with a subsidy of 17,6 M Euros. In the new programming period there are direct and indirect sources available for the tourism industry, e.g. EDIOP priority aes 1 and 7. Most of the EU funds may be used for tourism attractions development of national and international significance, for local destination management organisations (DMOs) and for innovative, national marketing campaigns in the tourism sector. For this purpose the Hungarian Tourism Ltd. will have 25,5 million euros available. Planned marketing campaigns are the following: Promotion of innovative communication in both traditional and new sending markets Promotion of product-based communication to meet the needs of the senior age group 8

9 Sustainable and responsible tourism, whether talking about economic, social or environmental sustainability, is a broad concept and may be interpreted in various ways depending on the attributes of a Member State or region. The following questions focus on sustainability and responsibility in tourism as described in the 2007 Commission Communication 2 on an agenda for sustainable and competitive European tourism Sustainable destination: What support is given to strengthen destination management at the national /regional/local level (e.g. supportive policy environment, knowledge networks, training programmes, technological support tools, financial support, promotional activities, etc.)? (Ma characters) Development of sustainable destinations began in 2009 by reorganising the territorial tourism organisations. Local destination management organisations (DMOs) were set up in most of the important destinations. These organisations activity is based on the co-operation of major tourism stakeholders, and covers the full range of tourism planning, product and attraction development, management of information and booking systems, project management, research and marketing, human resource developments, co-ordination of stakeholder activity and administrative tasks. In 2015, already 86 DMOs have been operated in accordance with the professional criteria Sustainable businesses: What support is given to strengthen the sustainability and competitiveness of tourism businesses (e.g. supportive policy environment, knowledge networks, orientation of business support services to sustainability, training, financial incentives, promotional activities, etc.)? (Ma characters) For supporting sustainable businesses in Hungary, we work on establishing supportive legal and policy environment and endeavour to give orientation for businesses to incorporate sustainability principles in their decisions. As regards the legal framework, we have modernised and modified the tourism related legislation in line with the recent adopted EU legal acts giving impetus and clear regulations to quality services. Hungarian taation system contains elements to strengthen the competitiveness of tourism. The accommodation services VAT is 18% which is 9 percentage points lower than the average rate. The Széchenyi Recreation Card (SzRC) system in addition to stimulating domestic tourism has further contribution to the competitiveness of the Hungarian tourism service providers, as they have to pay only 1.5% commission after a transaction. In the economic indicators of a local tourism development we pay attention to the utilisation of local workforce, local products, and local subcontractor chains. As regards the social aspects priority is given to maintain and preserve local workforce, to development of quality of life of locals through established services. Local community partnerships are preferred in project evaluation as well as the improvement of the quality of access to local cultural and natural heritage. As regards the environmental aspects of the project evaluation, preference is given to developments paying attention to sustainable means of transport, increased accessibility by using alternative transport methods (public transport, cycling) in case of increased environmental burden an off-setting mechanism is to be established. To support high quality services a national trademarking system has been established since 2009 when obligatory qualification of accommodation was eliminated. Joining the national trademark system is not obligatory, but it contributes to distinguish good quality service providers from non-qualified services, to strengthen consumer consciousness and to provide guidelines for the easier selection of services. National trademark qualifications were set up until the end of 2012 for rural accommodations, /inde_en.htm 9

10 private rooms, holiday camps, camping sites and hotels. The owner of the trademarks is the Hungarian State ecept the Hotelstars Union system, which is owned by the Hungarian Association of Hotels and Restaurants. To further improve the quality of the accommodation establishments a trademarking system (1-3 backpack) has been developed for hostels as well. The application process started in April, and 3 establishments have already submitted its application. Together with the Hungarian Kayak-Canoe Association the Ministry for National Economy established the trademarking system for water tourism stops e.g. boat stages in December More than 25 water tourism stops have already initiated the qualification. A national trademarking system has been worked out for the Hungarian spas as well. In April the first, highest value trademark (5 star) was given to the Rudas Thermal Bath. Another qualification of competitive and sustainable business is the Hungarian Tourism Quality Award (HTQA). The aim of the award is to support and appreciate the high quality performance of accommodations and restaurants based on a unified, objective and reliable voluntary evaluation system. The self-evaluation is controlled by the awarding committee and through mystery shopping Responsible tourism: What support is given to tourists and the tourism industry to promote their responsible practices and choices (e.g. awareness raising, sustainability in education, national marketing and media campaigns, promotion of certification schemes, etc.)? (Ma characters) In order to draw the attention of tourists for protecting natural heritage a code of conduct has been drawn up focusing on responsibilities during visiting national parks or other protected natural sites. The code of conduct is available on internet and printed in any brochures presenting ecotourism facilities in Hungary. The Hungarian Tourism Ltd. also participated in several actions that aim at enhancing the knowledge and consciousness of tourists regarding their responsibility for the environment. Hungary is committed to develop ecotourism in a sustainable way. In order to demonstrate the best practices of ecotourism development and operation, the ministries responsible for tourism and for nature protection launched a common initiative in The ecotourism facility of the year is a competition, where the familyfriendly services of visitor centres and nature trails are compared and awarded by a diploma and additional marketing actions. Different awards like Entente Florale for cities and villages or Rosemary Award for restaurants with best floral milieu, or the Green Hotel award are also serving to raise awareness of tourists towards regions, service providers with environmentally responsible business attitude Please describe maimum three of the most significant planned / future tourism measures (legislative or non-legislative) which envisage to impact travellers visiting your country from other Member States or from outside Europe. (Ma characters) 1.) In 2013, as a new area health tourism based on medical services was also prioritised: 33 projects containing both medical treatments and tourist services were awarded by 53 million euros financial support making possible to realise some 90 million euros development. During the programming period the development of health tourism will keep its position, but instead of building new capacities enhancement of service quality and improvement of cost- and energy effective operation system, development of health resorts is to be in the focus. In order to make the differentiation of Hungarian spas easier an evidence based thermal water research belongs to the priority measures of health tourism. The eploration of possible co-operations in the field of health tourism is one of the main objectives also within the international tourism policy of Hungary. In line with the Hungarian tourism policy highlight, health tourism is the first priority product of the Hungarian Tourism Ltd. It is in the focus of numerous marketing campaigns and is presented on several international forums. 10

11 2.) In connection with our Governments policy of opening towards the East Hungary is aiming to find new potentials from emerging markets such as the former member states of the Soviet Union (CIS countries), the GCC countries or other Far East Asian countries to attract additional visitors. Beside the traditional and Eastern markets we pay more attention to our neighbouring countries. The tourism cooperation of China and the Central and Eastern European Countries aims at the joint promotion of the region in order to increase the visibility of the CEE region in the Chinese tourism market and present CEE as one single destination. 3.) For national marketing campaigns the Hungarian Tourism Plc. will have 25,5 million euros available. Planned marketing campaigns are the following: Promotion of innovative communication in both traditional and new sending markets Promotion of product-based communication to meet the needs of the senior age group 5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 5.1. Please describe maimum 3 best practices of tourism measures implemented at national, regional or local level (any type of activity). (Ma characters) 1.) Széchenyi Recreation Card (SZRC): In order to promote domestic tourism a new fringe benefit system has been introduced which is called Széchenyi Recreation Card (SZRC). It is a non-wage benefit that can be provided by companies to their employees besides their salary with a discounted ta rate. It is a convenient card with three sub accounts for the different purposes. The maimum amount is 1500 EUR annually to give with discounted ta rate, from which 750 EUR can be used for accommodation services, 500 EUR for catering and 250 EUR for leisure services. One of the advantages of the system is the relatively low commission level, set at 1.5% which is to be paid by the service providers after the transactions. The SZRCs are issued by market participants (at the moment by three bank-owned groups of companies), thus the operation of the system does not cost anything to the state. A Government Decree specifies the conditions under which the issuers are required to be compliant. Since the launch of the new system companies gave this benefit to their employees and more than cards have been issued. In 2014 more than EUR 250 million have been filled up to SZRCs, and the same amount was spent on domestic services. 2.) China-CEE cooperation China is the fastest growing tourism market in the world. It is projected that by 2018, with a rise of 46.4% the number of Chinese tourists arriving in the CEECs will increase to cca. 3.7 million. These data also prove that the Chinese market has a huge potential for our countries. In the China Central and Eastern European Countries' Economic Forum in November 2013 in Bucharest the Chinese party called upon Hungary to establish a cooperation platform in the field of tourism with the aim of increasing tourism cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries. The official opening of the China Central and Eastern European Countries' Tourism Coordination Centre (TCC) took place in May 2014 in Budapest within the framework of the first High-level Meeting on Tourism Cooperation of China and the CEE countries. The main aim of the cooperation is to increase the visibility of the CEE region in the high-potential Chinese tourism market and present CEE as one single destination. This may allow better visibility of the region and a more effective appearance in China, thus contributing to the rise in the number of Chinese tourist arrivals. The goals of the cooperation are the following: Develop, coordinate and promote the relations between CNTA and the NTAs of the 16 CEECs, Create and echange databases containing the list of members of tourism industry of China and the CEECs, 11

12 Contribute to the development of new tourism routes, products and packages, Provide information for the actors of tourism industries of the cooperation partners on visa related issues for tourism purposes. Hold one forum per year for all the cooperating organizations in China or any CEEC Contribute to closer cooperation between national associations of enterprises of tourism industries, Develop direct flights to the Central and Eastern European region from China Please describe, in a concise manner, in your view, what policy developments / actions / activities would you epect from the Commission's tourism team that would serve better (than the current ones) the EU Member States and the industry. (Ma characters) Hungary would be happy to cooperate with the Tourism Unit of the European Commission in the field of Tourism Satellite Accounts. We would very much appreciate the idea of creating funding opportunities for Member States in order to develop their TSAs and to publish them every two years in cooperation with National Central Statistical Offices. We believe this could contribute to successful and efficient planning of tourism policy in all Member States. As far as travel facilitation is concerned we welcome the revision of the Visa Code by the Commission however Hungary considers that the Tourism Unit should play a more active and an initiator role in this respect and cooperate more closely with DG HOME. Making travel easier and the question of visa facilitation are key issues in today s tourism policy making on global level as well. As we have seen from the joint research of UNWTO and WTTC, visa facilitation can have significant economic impacts on tourism and the analysis have identified different ways how to move forward on visa facilitation. Therefore Member States tourism administration should be backed up by EU Tourism Policy making in order to proceed during the discussion with its own Foreign and Interior Ministries. 12