Summarizing the case study of ARB we can state, that the high ranked hotel is visited typically by international guests, the water park is very popular with
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local residents from adjacent quarters and settlements. Although the mass of local guests exacerbates seasonality, they ensure profitability of the whole complex. This means that the operator needs focus upon both tourists and local inhabitants. Especially in summer and holiday periods, revenues exceed the losses of other seasons.
Our results show, that popular tourist zones and sights in downtown are not real and appreciated attractions for the guests of the ARB. Based on the revealed features we conclude that a tourism attraction in the urban-rural fringe has got loose connections to the tourism of city center. Finally we highlight, that due to the urban-rural fringe is a controversial and partly unregulated zone, the urban planning plays not a decisive role by the development and operation than in downtown.
For further discussions of the tourism features of Budapest’s urban-rural fringe, we consider, that current urban development processes are the inducement of distinct development of urban-rural fringe’s tourism. Uneven development is an inherent characteristic of capital accumulation (Brenner, N. – Theodore, N., 2002), and tourism is regarded as a major avenue of capital accumulation throughout the world (Britton, S.G. 1991, Bianchi, R.V. 2009). Spatial split in capital extraction and accumulation is not a phenomena that comes forward solely among regions. Uneven development concerns also intrametropolitan relations as the neoliberal strategy of capitalism focuses on urbanization of capital (Timár J. 2010). Capital investments fluctuate within metropolitan border as they follow the best prospects of profit. Suburbanization or – talking about Central European settings – deconcentration of urban-rural fringe is a phenomenon of capital accumulation. Spatiality of capital investments reflects the geometry of profitability. Objectives of capital investments can change as neoliberal urbanization progressively modifies land use patterns.
Suburbanization with dominant residential use gets started to be functionally diversified, that implies that productive capital investments gain strength in the urban-rural fringe. An ongoing functional diversification of the urban periphery is a post suburban phenomenon, which appears to be overlapped by suburban urbanization cycle in the case of the Central European cities. So, the urbanization of capital causes restructuring of the fringe, whilst capital seeks for the highest return. As suburbanization and residential deconcentration in the urban-rural fringe of Budapest have set up demographic foundation and consumer demand for post suburban land use and services, diversification of capital investments brings to the focus.
Exurban tourism, argues Weaver (2005) can implicate an extremely high visitation level at recreational venues. Leisure tourism as well as shopping appears to be important at the local area of our case study: shopping malls, a golf club and manages supplies visitors’ demand in the area. Aquaworld
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however emerges from exurban tourism venues in the post suburban space. In contrast to Weaver’s characteristics on exurban tourism, Aquaworld has an international clientele from Central and Eastern Europe as well, and has significant capacities for accommodation services/hotel trade. It proved to be essential, that unique thematic services provided by Aquaworld are embedded in metropolitan economy, that provide a solid foundation for its business success.
It targets a commercial niche, that irrespective to visitors’ origin reaches social groups coming from regions similarly affected by neoliberal urbanization, owing similar preferences for post suburban services and environment.
Approaching from investor’s side, distinctiveness of Aquaworld from US exurban tourism venues get more highlighted. Focusing on political settings, that contour capital investments, Weaver (2005) underlines fuzzy planning institutions, instable spatial economy, and numerous conflicts of social interest, under which investments taken place. Post social society and space however generate unlike frameworks for neoliberalization. The fact, that Aquaworld project did not create any environmental, social or business tension in the local area is an issue of the heritage of socialist city. Aquaworld’ development plot takes place at the frontier zone of the once socialist compact city, where virtually no tensions were able to be emerged. On the other hand, the location enabled good access to potential consumers, which resulted in an extreme profit at the investor. Another striking feature of post socialist neoliberal restructuring is the weak local state as the outcome of extensive privatization (Kovács, Z.
2010). We think that Aquaworld’s success is an inherent manifestation of post socialist and post suburban context of political, social and institutional arrangements of the millennial Budapest. In the fringe of this post socialist city, urbanization of capital makes significant gains from the transmittance of more compact city (more consumers live here), the weak planning environment, and post suburban restructuring it the urban-rural fringe.
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