Gyล r, the greatest tourist attraction of north-west Hungary Report by Hajdu-Pรกsztor Petra
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Content:
1.1. Introduction: situation and basic information…………………………………..3 1.2. Access…………………………………………………………………………..4
2.1. Accomodation…………………………………………………………………..4 2.2. Most important sights…………………………………………………………...5 2.3. Active Tourism………………………………………………………………….7
3.1. Importance of Tourism in the area………………………………………………8 3.2. SWOT analysis…………………………………………………………………..8
4.1. Sources…………………………………………………………………………10
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1.1 Situation and basic information
Győr is the most important city of north-west Hungary being the capital of Győr-MosonSopron country and Western Transdanubia region. It is situated exactly halfway between Vienna and Budapest. The city is the sixth largest city in Hungary with its 130000 inhabitants. Győr is called the town of four rivers: the Marcal, the Rába, the Rábca and the Danube flow across it. It is a historic town – the bishopry was set up during the rule of the first Hungarian king, Saint Stephen. Hungary's second richest town in historic buildings outside Budapest has won Europe-award for the protection of the historic buildings, in acknowledgment of the reconstruction of the Baroque centre of the town. Churches, palaces, museums, characteristic corner-balconies and narrow lanes, all reminders of a historic past, invite visitors to take a walk in the centre of the town. Győr is also called the town of students. Apart from a great number of secondary technical and grammar schools, Győr has a Teacher Training College and a University. Győr is an industrial centre as well since Audi has a giant factory in the city and they are expanding so they give work to more and more people reducing the rate of unemployment in the town.
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1.2. Access
Győr lies on one of the important roads of Central Europe. The road network connects Slovakia from the north, Austria from the west, Lake Balaton from the south and Budapest from the east to the heart of Kisalföld. The Győr-Pér airport makes the town accessible by air as well. 2.1.
Accomodation
Győr offers accomodation for all 8 types of tourists from the ”being there” cathegory to those who belong to the ”aiming high” group since 4star hotels, B&Bs and a camping is also available in the city. One can book single nights in these accomodation types, but 3=4 or wellness weekend actions are also available. There are plenty of B&B sin the city centre for the ”Searching” but peaceful and quiet hotels also wait for tourists, especially for those who belong to the ”Embracing Life” category.
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2.2.
Most important sights
Our monuments in and around Győr are 1000-year-old. Saint Stephan founded the Episcopate of Győr together with the first dioceses one thousand years ago. The Basilica and the Bishop's Castle erected on Káptalan hill are symbols of the Christianity of West-Hungary. This lively settlement with buoyant economic and commercial development offers splendid opportunities also for the representatives of business life to meet here. Nature embraces and weaves through Győr along the rivers. The medicinal waters, the landscape and the cultural-historical treasures of the environment: the Szigetköz waterland and the Pannonhalma Hills allure people who want to have a rest or relaxation.
After the battle near Győr in 1809 Napoleon himself spent a night in Győr in a house in the Király street. The house is called ”Napoleon House” now and it is used as a picture gallery of the Xantus Museum.
Győr is worth a visit, especially the centre of the town where visitors can find lots of beautiful baroque buildings – most of them have been renovated recently. If one walks down Káptalan hill, one arrives at a small square, where in the so-called Kreszta house the ceramics of Margit Kovács are exhibited.
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In Széchenyi square one can find the Xantus Museum, which has rich material showing the history of Győr. In this square there is another museum, a museum-pharmacy. It has a unique baroque ceiling, which is also wort seeing. If one walks in the centre, one can find a large number of baroque bulindings dating from the 15th to the 18 centuries.
However, there is quite a modern buliding in the centre too – the buliding of the National Theatre. It has a permanent company playing dramas, operas, operettas, musicals and so on. The ballett company of the theatre tours a lot in many parts of the world. They are famous for dancing modern ballet. They have performed in many big cities in Europe with great success. The buliding of the theatre is quite special. One of the walls outside is decorated by a modern piece of art by Vasarely, the Hungarian born world-famous modern artist. In the heart of Győr visitors can find the Town Hall which was bulit at the end of the last century. It has a 58 meter high tower with a clock and a short melody can be heard coming from the tower every hour.
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2.3.Active tourism
Győr is a town of festivals where friends of the arts and those who are eager for a high-quality relaxation can
find
attractive
programmes all the year round. Győr is a cultural centre of the region. Every summer a festival is held when visitors can enjoy different cultural programs from concerts of classical music to different temporary exhibitions. A baroque festival is held every August, when baroque music is played and a baroque wedding ceremony is takes place in a baroque ceremony hall, participants wearing beautiful costumes. The Rába-Quelle Bath, the bath of meetings has been recently opened in the city of meetings. Through its services it creates additional excellent opportunities for an active holiday, for recovery or relaxation. Győr is also a shopping centre. Small boutiques and huge department stores offer shopping facilities for tourists.
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3.1. Importance of tourism in the area
In the first quarter of 2012 78000 guests spent 180000 guest nights in Győr-MosonSopron country. Due to the overall economic crisis, these were 5.9% under the previous year’s averege. Inbound tourism is dominating in the region. 54% of the guest nights were spent by Hungarian tourists, and 46% by Austrian, Slovakian, Romanian, Croatian, Ukranian and German tourists. 7.6% more foreign tourists spent 6.8% more guest nights in the shire than last year. German guests spent the more in our region, 2.4 nights on averege. 59% of all tourists booked a room in a 3-star hotel, 33.33% of them slept in a 4star hotel. This year the number of places accepting relaxation cheques rose by 3.0%.
3.2. SWOT analysis Strengths: The city is perfectly situated, being near the capital city, Austria, Slovakia and lake Balaton. A lot of EU projects were successful providing a lot of money to the city. This was used to renovate the unique baroque city centre: buildings, squares and bridges. All the accommodation types can be found here, making the city attractive to all tourist types. Active tourism, relaxation, and sightseeing is also provided by Győr.
Weaknesses: There are not enough programs for families coming with small childrens. the Zoo is a great opportunity but is not advertised properly, and not all the facilities are used. There is also a theatre for children, but it is neither properly advertised, nor is it of a good quality. The special, and world-famous Hungarian cuisine is not represented by traditional Hungarian Restaurants in the city.
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Opportunities: The Zoo provides a great opportunity to broaden the types of tourist coming to the city. The thermal bath could also be used as a tourist-lure providing fun for the children and relaxation for the elderly, but only after a reorganisation and renovation. Its current structure is not suitable for any age group.
Threats: There are cities like Pécs or Sopron which can attract the same tourists as Győr does, and these places spend an increased amount of money on marketing and advertising. Lots of Austrian and Slovakian tourists might visit those cities instead of Győr, only because they provide more information and language barriers are broken down by citizens of Sopron and Pécs.
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4.1. Sources: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=gy%C5%91r&f=hp http://www.gyor.hu/ http://gyor.lap.hu/ http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gy%C5%91r http://www.iranymagyarorszag.hu/info/gyor/ http://www.kisalfold.hu/ http://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/megy/121/gyor121.pdf
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