Local services
The Aquaticum Strand in Debrecen opens on the 31st of May.
The details were announced at a press conference on the 29th of May 2024 by Mayor of Debrecen László Papp, and Managing Director of Aquaticum Debrecen Ltd. Lajos Fazekas.
Mayor László Papp said “we can be justly proud of the fact that a spa complex has been created in Debrecen in recent years, which has been a great success not only in Hungary, but also internationally. The new bathing complex opened its doors in 2020, a time when tourism and community programmes were perhaps the least feasible, as it was a time of a pandemic that made it difficult to start the bathing complex. Despite this, the Aquaticum Strand in the Great Forest Hungary’s “most spectacular” beach, has had a very successful year, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Last year, although the weather was not as good as in 2022, the beach resort attracted almost 200,000 visitors, with just over 195,000 people visiting, mainly from Debrecen and Hungary. The proportion of visitors from Debrecen was 70 percent, which means that the beach is a very popular and much loved recreational location and facility for the citizens of the city. The share of foreign guests was also higher last year than in previous years, around 12.5 percent, and the rest of the guests came from different parts of the country. This beach welcomes bathers with the spirit and standards of the 21st century. For added comfort, new sun sails have been installed where the slides can be accessed to provide a good level of protection from the sun. The mayor also mentioned that Aquaticum Strand was among the first to join the Debrecen City Card programme, followed by the Aquaticum Indoor Aqua Park (Mediterranean Aqua Park) in spring 2024. In 2024, Aquaticum’s position in the city card program will further strengthen. The initiative that a day in the strand belongs to graduating high school students every year has become a tradition. This day will be the 10th of July this year, when they will be able to enter the beach area for free, and they will be entertained by DJs and various sports programs.
According to the Managing Director of Aquaticum Debrecen Ltd. Lajos Fazekas the first season of the new strand in 2020 was not yet complete, as it only opened on the 20th of June and it rained continuously for a week. However, this year will be the fifth season for Aquaticum Strand with extended services. Among these, Lajos Fazekas said that a professional animation team is being set up to provide families, especially children, with a continuous programme of activities every weekend. There will be themed weekends with giant fairy-tale characters, giant games or sports, for example. The other key service expansion is the Sunday Chill event, which will start every Sunday afternoon at 2.30 p.m. and run until 7.30 p.m. Commenting on ticket prices, the Managing Director said that efforts had been made to design ticket structures that would result in ticket prices below inflation.
The discounts related to the Debrecen City Card were again discussed by Mayor László Papp. As he said “the Debrecen City Card has become a very important “institution” in recent times. And the Junior Debrecen City Card, which provides free public transport in Debrecen for children aged between 6 and 14, has so far been redeemed for more than 14,000 children out of the just over 16,000 involved. This also shows that the social support for this programme is very high, beyond expectations. Many city institutions, restaurants, confectioners, shops and the Aquaticum Strand also offer discounts in connection with the city card.”
Until now, those with a Debrecen City Card have been able to enjoy a discount of around 13-15% on Aquaticum services. This year, the discount will rise to 20-22 percent, but if you buy a season ticket, it can go up to 30 percent. It is important for the city to have the opportunity to share its economic success with its citizens in this way, in the form of discounts and subsidies. Aquaticum is also a very important pillar of this initiative. The strand is a very important element of the city’s tourist assets, as it can offer family and child-oriented programmes for the people of Debrecen and visitors in a beautiful green environment in the Great Forest.Last year was a new record year in tourism terms, with more than 577,000 nights spent in Debrecen by visitors, the city’s hotel occupancy rate far exceeded the peak year of 2019, before the Covid epidemic. In terms of the number of nights spent, the first quarter of 2024 shows a 23% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023 as a baseline. So it can be said that Debrecen is booming in tourism terms, with new hotel developments expected in the coming period, which will obviously have an impact on the occupancy rate of the Aquaticum. It is hoped that the strand will be able to close this year with an even higher number of visitors than last year, provided the weather is favourable. László Papp thanked the BT team for the gift they offered to Aquaticum and its visitors to mark the opening of this season.
Source:d ebrecen.hu
