Joint International Conference on Long-term Experiments ...

depending on the character and level of the service (it is similar to the conventional star
qualifying system of hotels).
Hungary has generally good natural conditions for equestrian programmes (Incze
and Hevessy 2007). The riding tourism in the Northern Great Plain can not be easily
assessed on the basis of up-to-date data. There are 9 touristical regions in Hungary,
which are used by Magyar Turizmus Zrt in general in its inland communication. The
Regional Tourist Service Committees also operate in accordance with this system.
However, only 5 regions are used in the external (i.e. international) communication. As
a result of this cumulation, the Northern Great Plain, the Lake Tisza and the Southern
Great Plain are called commonly as Plain and Lake Tisza cumulated region (Fig. 1.). It
is a question, why some recent Hungarian publication has also only 5 regions?
Fig. 1.: Northern Great Plain and division of Hungary into 5 regions
(Source: www.itthon.hu).
The horse stock of the Northern Great Plain is nationally important. The number of
horses is 7 031 in county Hajdú-Bihar (Lóska 2001), 4 091 in county Jász- Nagykun-
Szolnok and 7 047 in county Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. The total is 18 169 horses,
which is approximately 20 % of Hungarian horse stock.
Several riding tourism services are present in the Northern Great Plain: e.g. riding,
hunter riding, dressage, military, voltage, cross-country riding, coach driving,
competitions, riding education, visiting of horse-breeding establishments, equestrian
shows. Additionally, there is catering and accommodation. In some places holiday
check and credit card can be also used.
The riding tourism conditions of the Northern Great Plain are presented according
to the elements of SWOT analyses, i.e. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats (Lisztes 2007, Lóska 2001, Borsy 1998). The micro-relief conditions of the
Northern Great Plain are varied and so, both advantageous and disadvantageous
conditions for riding tourism can be found. Extending steppes, sandy terrain, landscape
having mosaic character and gently sloping terrain are advantageous; while the plain
character, the cracked structure soil are disadvantageous. The narrowing continuous
terrains and strictly protected areas may mean danger, i.e. decreasing facilities. Anyway,
the relief is suitable for a lot of equestrian programs and it makes possible to elaborate
further paths for riding and coach tours.
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