In 2012 summer we made a questionnaire among cruise passengers in Budapest, the questions were according to their opinion about cruise tourism in Danube and the image of Budapest. As wives and husbands participate on cruise tourism, it can be seen in the research too, 96 men and 101 women filled the questionnaire. The average age was 66 year. They could be categorized to five groups by nationality: German, British, American, French and Australian. Most of them (62,9%) for the first time, one quarter of them second or third time, and some of them for the seventh time were here in Budapest. 84,8 % would come again, which shows that the image of Budapest is quite strong and people have good opinion about the capital of Hungary. 34 % of the people think that the architecture of the city is amazing with its old, historical buildings, the bridges, the Andrassy Avenue. More people mentioned the atmosphere of the city. They like the green Buda side with hills and the historical Pest side. The attractions they prefer the Parliament, the Basilica, the Heroes square, the Mathias church and the Market hall. Some of them wrote about the landscape, the Danube, the openness, kindness and helpfulness of the local people, the history of the country, the Gellért Hill, the panorama from the Castle and the city in the night lightning. We also tried to know the negative opinion, but less than the 20 % of the people answer these questions and other 20 % thought that they were here less time than say any negative things about Budapest. So there were only some aspects they mentioned as the traffic jam, the constructions and the condition of the buildings. 41,9 % of the respondents positively disappointed in the city while 58,1% had positive impressions as they expected. None of them mentioned any negative alternatives. We did cross analysis between the number of the visits and the overall picture of the city. People who positively disappointed, 70 % of them came to Budapest for the first time. People who were here for more times,
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the city could cause them surprise, which is a very good recognition for Budapest, since it means that it can be renewed, offer new level of programs and experiences. So the image of Budapest is constantly improved which is important for the tourists.
Conclusion
Analysing the image of Budapest by document analysis and questionnaire we could say, that not all of the elements of tourism image could appear in brochures and not all of them enough good or strong to be mentioned by a cruise tourist. (Table 2) It is interesting that almost the same elements miss from results of both research methods as sport facilities, price/value ratio, climate, relaxation/mass tourism, security and relationship. There were some elements which appeared only in brochures but not be mentioned by tourists as entertainment, nightlife, shopping and transport facilities, availability and originality. The typical functional elements are very strong according to both methods but most of the psychological elements are weak in the image of Budapest. So the results show that we should concentrate in our marketing tools to the psychological elements. Cruise tourist should know about our security and relationship. And we also have to emphasize our good price /value ratio, our good climate and the sport facilities as well.
Despite the fact that cruise tourism has long history in the river Danube, the organization which is responsible the tourism of Budapest did not deal with this segment. They thought it is not useful for Budapest because of all-inclusive service on cruises. Nowadays the approach has already changed and they see all of the advantages which cruise tourism can bring to Budapest. Travel agencies started to offer optional programs, which bring plus income. Trips could be supplemented with a 2-3 days staying, which tourists have high willingness to spend. Without marketing the country could be advertised by cruises. But we also have to know there are some threats. Vienna also applying for this transit position as Budapest, and the city has already carried out major port developments. On the other hand Budapest port infrastructure needs development. There is also a big problem there is no consensus about the place of international ports: If they remain in the city, they cut of locals and tourists the direct contact with the river Danube. But if they are in quay out of the city, Budapest loses the competitive advantages against Vienna.
Assuming our results and conclusions we could say that it is worth dealing with this segment of tourists and also investigating to analyse the impact of cruise tourism to the image of Budapest.
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The elements of image Document analysis Questionnaire
A wide variety of attractions X X
Landscape, environment X X
Natural attractions X X
Cultural attractions X X
Entertainment, nightlife X
Shopping facilities X
Information X X
Sport facilities
Transport facilities X
Accommodations X X
Gastronomy X X
Price/value ratio Climate
Relaxation vs. Mass tourism
Availability X
Security Relationship
Hospitality X X
Originality X
Quality of services X X
Table2 The elements of tourism image by results of document analysis and questionnaire
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