The National Geographic conducted a representative survey of 18-65-year-olds entitled “Direction of the City!”, to determine the habits of Hungarians’ in relation to visiting cities and, of course, what their favorite Hungarian cities are.
Based on spontaneous responses, a third of the population stated they prefer Budapest the most. After the capital, Eger was the second most popular city, followed by Pécs, Debrecen, and Szeged which were all tied for third place.
In terms of favorite foreign cities, Vienna received the most mentions, ahead of Paris, Rome, London, and Venice, which are also prestigious. Fewer voted for cities outside Europe, but from those that did, most said, New York.
33 percent of those surveyed find their own city exciting enough to explore if they want to see something interesting: otherwise, they don’t think about visiting the city either domestically or abroad. Only 21 percent of the population feel that, given all the financial conditions, they would be willing to leave home and take a plane to travel to a European city for a long weekend.
Many of the participants in the study have already started walking in their own city without any goals: only 9 percent of the population said they had never happened to walk, while 26 percent walked aimlessly at least once a week. Based on their responses, the reason for this is that they like to be outdoors, move, think, or just not think about anything. Among those who don’t do this, 47 percent said aimless streetwalking has never even occurred to them, and 24 percent say it’s a downright pointless activity. Compared to the demographic composition of the Hungarian population aged 18-65, those aged 30-39 and those living in Budapest were over-represented among those who walked at least once a week. And among those who never walk, a higher proportion is aged 40-49 with a “basic education”.
When it comes to visiting another city, more people are curious about historic buildings than modern ones. Among the top 3, most popular sightseeing activities are visiting the parks and looking at the pedestrian street. Outdoor programs are preferred by many to “in-seat” programs (e.g., theater, museum, bars). National Geographic encourages everyone to upload a good photo, either in their own city or in another Hungarian city, to the interactive map of National Geographic ( atfredezonekszulettunk.hu ) in order for as many people as possible to learn about Hungary’s historical treasures.
The National Geographic channel was created for city lovers with a special multi-week program, during which viewers can get to know foreign cities in front of the TV screens.
Source: Dehir.hu
