Posted by: Marian Visser van Klaarwater Posted on: Thursday 14 October 2010, 10:26

After the rupture of the red sludge reservoir in near Ajka, Hungarian authorities keep monitoring the situation and publish fresh updates.

One thing is sure: Hungary is still a safe place for tourists and the disaster is not a threat to anyone travelling to the country. A special website, informing foreigners about the latest news in English was set up at http://redsludge.bm.hu. The rupture of the red sludge reservoir in Hungary has caused a localised emergency situation afflicting three villages 160 km from the capital, Budapest. The dam burst poses no threat at all to anyone planning to travel to Budapest or stay elsewhere in Hungary.

The disaster triggered by a ruptured sludge reservoir near Ajka, a town situated 160 km from the capital, is localised in nature and has no damaging impact on areas located farther away. The most favoured tourist destinations, such as Budapest and Pécs, the Cultural Capital of Europe, are not affected by the dam burst in any manner. Visitors arriving in Hungary continue to have unlimited access to the entire tourism infrastructure, including airports, places of accommodation and other tourism service providers and attractions.

After that the red sludge escaped from a containment pond of a privately owned alumina production company 160 km from Budapest on 4 October, the Hungarian Government took immediate measures to ensure the safety of the local population, and clean-up and decontamination operations are underway along with efforts to reinforce the banks of the reservoir. The sludge poses a direct health hazard to the local population only; consumption of locally grown food-products is not allowed. Outside the afflicted areas the disaster has no adverse health effects.

HOTREC meets in Budapest HOTREC, the association of hotels, restaurants and cafés in Europe, will hold its annual general assembly in Budapest, on 28-29 October.

Participants of the assembly include the European Commission s tourism executives, who will present the new tourism policy of the continent, which aims to keep Europe as the number one tourism destination and to promote the tourism flow. President of the European Travel Commission, Ms Petra Hedorfer, will also give a lecture on the topic. The Calypso tourism programme, which is designed to strengthen senior tourism in the off-season, will be featured. Hungarian tourism executives will also present the main themes of Hungary s EU presidency, food hygiene, improvements in the competitiveness of hotels and EU funding. Other topics will include fire safety, social media and opinion sites. Furthermore, participants will have the chance to sample the Hungarian tourism offer for themselves.