‘Is Second the New First?’ – The Conversion of Second Homes Into Primary Ones During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sulyok Judit (), Nemes Gusztáv (), Orbán Éva () and Tomay Kyra ()
Additional contact information
Sulyok Judit: senior research fellow, Balaton Tourism Research Centre, University of Pannonia, Hungary
Nemes Gusztáv: senior research fellow, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Budapest, Hungary
Orbán Éva: PhD student, Doctoral School of Demography and Sociology, University of Pécs, Hungary
Tomay Kyra: PhD, associate professor, Department of Sociology, University of Pécs, Hungary

European Countryside, 2024, vol. 16, issue 1, 64-85

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought profound changes to the realm of second-home tourism, with far-reaching consequences for rural areas. Our quantitative survey of Hungary explores the multifaceted implications of this transformation along three axes: motivations, usage patterns, and future intentions. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the trend of rural gentrification, turning many second-homes into permanent residences. Two locations play a crucial role in this phenomenon: Budapest as a source on the one hand, and traditional destinations, primarily Lake Balaton, on the other. The sudden increase of users posed challenges for the local infrastructure and public services, and the differences in values, preferences, and behaviour between new and old residents, may also create tensions and problems. Policymakers face the delicate task of balancing local needs with those of the burgeoning second-home population. Shaping a sustainable future for rural areas therefore requires strategic planning in order to amplify the positive impact and mitigate potential drawbacks.

Keywords: second-home tourism; rural gentrification; rural tourism; COVID-19; amenity migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2024-0005 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:eurcou:v:16:y:2024:i:1:p:64-85:n:5

DOI: 10.2478/euco-2024-0005

Access Statistics for this article

European Countryside is currently edited by Milada Šťastná

More articles in European Countryside from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().