Budapest vs Zurich

Zurich leads Budapest by 1 points on the CIRA Index, 73 to 72. Budapest grades better on 6 measures, Zurich on 9; the same 35 measures from public sources for both.

Scores by each organisation's criteria

• CIRA Index: Budapest 72, Zurich 73
• OECD: Budapest 70, Zurich 74
• UN Tourism: Budapest 75, Zurich 74
• UNDRR: Budapest 70, Zurich 72

Theme by theme

• Demand and seasonality: Budapest 63, Zurich 63
• Economy and jobs: Budapest 92, Zurich 100
• Climate and hazards: Budapest 70, Zurich 85
• Water and environment: Budapest 75, Zurich 75
• Community and housing: Budapest 67, Zurich 75
• Access and continuity: Budapest 71, Zurich 71

Where Budapest is stronger

• Largest foreign market: 10 % of international arrivals or nights (country figure) (OECD, OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2026 (Hungary chapter), 2024). At or below 15: grade 4/4.
• Average length of stay: 2.4 nights per visitor (Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) / Horwath HTL, 2025). Between 2.2 and 2.8: grade 2/4.
• Hotel bed or room occupancy: 71 % average annual occupancy (CBRE / Money Buzz! Hungary, 2024). Between 65 and 75: grade 3/4.
• Flood hazard: low (region figure) (World Bank GFDRR ThinkHazard, current (retrieved 2026)). Grade 3/4.
• Municipal waste per resident: 361.3 kg per resident per year (Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), Települések infrastrukturális ellátottsága, 2023, 2023). Between 350 and 450: grade 3/4.
• Access redundancy: 4 independent ways in: international airport, intercity rail, port, motorway (Budapest Airport / MÁV / MAHART PassNave, 2025–2026). At or above 4: grade 4/4.

Where Zurich is stronger

• Domestic share of nights: 38.7 % of nights by residents of the same country (region figure) (Zürich Tourismus via Keystone-SDA / SWI swissinfo.ch, 2025). Between 35 and 45: grade 3/4.
• Recovery against 2019: 112.7 % of 2019 visitor nights reached in the latest full year (region figure) (Federal Statistical Office (FSO / BFS), Schweizer Tourismusstatistik / HESTA, 2024). At or above 110: grade 4/4.
• Income per head: 102,513 GDP per capita, USD PPP (country figure) (World Bank WDI, 2025). At or above 60,000: grade 4/4.
• Tropical nights: 1.4 nights a year with a minimum at or above 20°C (last 5 full years) (ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, 2021–2025). At or below 10: grade 4/4.
• Wildfire and storm hazard: low (region figure) (World Bank GFDRR ThinkHazard, current (retrieved 2026)). Grade 3/4.
• Country disaster risk: 1.9 INFORM Risk index, 0–10 (country figure) (INFORM Risk (European Commission JRC), INFORM Risk Mid 2026, 2026). At or below 2: grade 4/4.
• Green space: 43 % of the urban area that is green or tree-covered (Urban Forestry & Urban Greening / City of Zurich Grün Stadt Zürich, 2021). At or above 40: grade 4/4.
• Rent growth: 2.2 % change in rents over the last 12 months (SMG Swiss Marketplace Group / ZKB, Homegate Rent Index, 2025). At or below 3: grade 4/4.
• Government effectiveness: 98.6 World Bank WGI percentile rank, 0–100 (country figure) (World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025). At or above 80: grade 4/4.

Country context (World Economic Forum)

• Hungary: #42 of 110 in the WEF Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026
• Switzerland: #9 of 110 in the WEF Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026

Budapest in full · Zurich in full

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