The city celebrating the 950th year of its founding won the Best Tourism Villages of 2023 award in competition with around 260 settlements on 5 continents.

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) chose Tokaj as one of the best priority settlements in the world, and this is the first time a Hungarian settlement has won such a prestigious tourism award, announced the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTÜ).

It was highlighted: the city celebrating the 950th year of its foundation won the Best Tourism Villages of 2023 award in competition with around 260 settlements from 5 continents. The prestigious international award recognizes the renovations to date and is the driving force behind further, historical-scale tourism developments, the aim of which is to make the world heritage wine region and the eponymous settlement of the Tokaj Aszú one of the most popular destinations in our country.

The initiative launched by the UNWTO in 2021 recognizes rural destinations that, in addition to their outstanding tourism developments, emphasize the preservation and promotion of local values ​​and products, as well as take care to preserve economic, social and environmental sustainability.

György Posta, the mayor of Tokaj, said in a statement during the award ceremony held on Thursday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan: the award confirms the persistent work they have been doing for years.

The award-winning address can be displayed in all domestic and international advertising of Tokaj, and this can contribute to more tourists coming to the settlement than before.

The jury, which covers a number of areas of expertise, such as product development, marketing, and cultural and natural resource conservation, included 54 settlements from around 29 countries around the world in its list of the best tourist settlements of 2023. The Austrian Schladming and St. Anton am Arlberg, as well as the Croatian Slunj, were added to the list, which includes Peruvian, Ethiopian, Iranian, Indonesian and Japanese settlements.

Front page photo: Tokaj, May 3, 2021. The view of Tokaj, which lies at the foot of Kopasz-hegy, at the confluence of the Tisza and Bodrog. In the middle is the former synagogue that is part of the Tokaj Cultural and Conference Center, on the right side (from front to back) the Greek Catholic Church of Bishop St. Nicholas, the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas and the Reformed Church. MTVA Photo: László Molnár-Bernáth