Confirmed by government sources, Budapest restaurants and bars may open their interiors from today, Friday, 29 May. So far, only terraces had been allowed to operate. Inside and out, staff must wear masks and rules of social distancing must be kept. We speak to local nightlife expert Tamás Pusztai of Memories Pub Crawl Budapest about the city’s gradual reopening – and how he sees things developing for the local hospitality industry.
From today, Friday, 29 May, Budapest’s restaurants, cafés and bars may open their indoor spaces, a week or so after terraces were permitted to operate. Currently, with Hungary’s borders still closed to those without permanent residency, only locals and foreigners staying here during the shutdown will be raising glasses or tucking into dinner around Budapest.
A significant chunk of the ten million visitors to Hungary in 2019 came for Budapest’s hectic nightlife scene. Centred on the party zone of District VII, it allowed a number of industries to thrive alongside, such as Tamás Pusztai’s Memories Pub Crawl Budapest, taking visitors around Budapest’s famous ruin bars and other nightspots. “It’s great news that bars can now reopen,” says Tamás. “Places really needed to regain their source of income.”
“On the other hand, the missing element around town is foreigners and tourists. We’re really hoping that Hungary can follow the same steps as nearby Austria and the Czech Republic and begin to reopen our borders. Ideally we could start to return to normal from June or July. A lot of companies in Budapest depend almost entirely on tourism.”
Tamás’ own firm currently offers walking tours and, perhaps from next year, yachting excursions – again, much dependent on tourism. As for Memories Pub Crawl Budapest, he is at pains to stress that rules of safety and security must be followed, even with the city’s bar interiors reopening. “As and when we start laying on our pub tours again, they will be with smaller groups.”
For some in District VII, however, the lack of nightlife has been a godsend. For years, residents there have been at loggerheads with bar and club owners, the noise and rubbish created by irresponsible partygoers the main issue.
Shortly before the shutdown, a new directive was put in place, forcing venues to close by midnight. Two weeks later, bars and clubs across Budapest had to close anyway.
“I can see it from both sides,” says Tamás. “On the one hand, residents shouldn’t have to suffer – on the other, these visitors bring a lot of money into the city, and provide employment and income to all kinds of people. We need to find a compromise that both sides can live with.”
Even though bars can open indoors, for the time being the nightlife scene will be something akin to Budapest Lite. “I think there are three key questions,” says Tamás. “When will the borders reopen, how will the mood of potential visitors be, and safety and security in general. People might feel a certain sense of trepidation before they book their trip – but, fortunately, Budapest and Hungary were nowhere near as badly hit by the virus as Western nations. I think people really want to travel again, they’ve had enough of quarantine – they would still like to enjoy something of the summer.”
