European Union accession: passport to development for the Hungarian tourism industry?

This paper presents a discussion of how the Hungarian tourism industry is likely to experience European Union (EU) enlargement. The post-socialist period laid the foundations for systematic tourism commodification and consumption, with notable progress. Set in an extended historical context, accession represents another important milestone in a protracted series of gradual reforms shaping the long-term trajectory of tourism development. The Hungarian tourism industry, similar to the rest of the economy, inevitably will be affected but change is expected to be incremental and associated with initiatives on regional development, air transport liberalisation, cross-border co-operation and increasing use of EU funds, all of which have been enacted before the date of accession. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd