Tourism supply of Baranya County in the 1930s

Abstract

The main question of the study is what opportunities for tourism appeared in the moderately developed Baranya County, of which one third had been annexed to the Kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia in 1920. The natural resources of the county were favourable. The Mecsek Mountains, the large rivers (Danube, Drava), the old historical sites and the spas have always attracted tourists. In this study, I present the developments that took place after the Great Depression in the 1930s, when the region was integrated into the system of national tourist organisations. In the mountain tourism industry, several villages experienced a growing number of visitors thanks to the development of paid hospitality, with mainly urban citizens visiting the accommodation facilities built in the forest environment. The Harkány medical spa saw a huge turnover, as did the Sikonda spa, which was built in 1928. The historical sites, especially Mohács, were very popular. Religious tourism also flourished – mostly the shrine at Máriagyűd stood out with its tens of thousands of visitors a year. The tourism developments in the 1930s significantly transformed the environment, increased employment, and raised real wages. However, this boom was ended by the Second World War.