Joint International Conference on Long-term Experiments ...

Concerning the weather long autumn and spring, hard winters and very hot summers are
characteristic. The weather should be taken into account during the organization of the
programs, e.g.: in summer, equestrian programs can be organized in early hours of the
morning or late the evening. Regarding surface waters, the network of rivers is rich,
here should be mention especially the Tisza. The presence of water may also cause
problems, e.g. in the case of marshes and bogs, not to mention floods. The combination
of water and riding tourism or perhaps organisation of combined programmes may offer
very interesting possibilities. The region has a very rich fauna and flora, which may be
attractive for naturalist tourists. Near communities, cultivated lands are often
predominant; these, of course, do not attract visitors interested for natural curiosities,
but these places are easily accessible. The (riding)tourism may disturb the natural
environment but undesirable impacts can be avoided with an appropriate organization.
The Hortobágy National Park has a positive attitude towards riding tourism within
reasonable limits (Lisztes 2007, Varga 2007). The horse-breeding establishment of
Máta, being on the territory of the National Park at issue, plans to renew the stage and to
use more efficiently the roofed riding grounds. There are also weak points in the
collaboration of the national park and touristically qualified riding establishments, e.g.
defective information flow. The collaboration with the national parks could offer further
possibilities, e.g. riding system of nature protection guards.
Summarized, tourism plays an important role both in Hungarian and in world
economy. Concerning, riding tourism Hungary has advantageous conditions and within
the country the Northern Great Plain is especially suitable for this activity. Besides the
above mentioned favorable conditions and riding establishments, the riding tour path
“Puszta” is a special attraction, it is listed among the best of the world (Harpers
magazine). The horse stock, touristical riding establishments, as well as natural and
economic factors offer a good possibility for further developments.
METHODS
Secondary data are obtained from documentation, while primary data are obtained by
carrying out own estimations, analyses and a case-study. The subject of the case-study
is the Debrecen Riding Academy. In the case-study, the documentation was completed
by interviews and field research (from September 2006 until January 2007). We have
considered the case-study important because through the Debrecen Riding Academy we
could present notions, types and possibilities of services by means of actual and
concrete examples. Furthermore, our objective was also to present strengths and
weaknesses, opportunities and threats trough a concrete situation. The data concerning
the Riding Academy are the data from 2005 and 2006 (there was no significant
difference between these 2 years). Our analyses and comparisons have been based on
the data of Magyar Turizmus Zrt. and Hungarian Riding Tourism Non-Profit
Association, and they were carried out by means of the software Microsoft Excel. In
comparisons, the conditions of the Plain and Lake Tisza cumulated region was
compared with those of the Transdanubia, Balaton, Budapest and its surroundings, as
well as with Eger-Tokaj Mountains region. Furthermore, we have assessed the
relationship between the Northern and Southern Great Plain within the Plain and Lake
Tisza cumulated region.
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