Trends in tourism supply and demand in the micro-regions of the Southern Great Plain region

According to the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT), the Southern Great Plain region was one of the poorest regions in the European Union in 2022, and tourism development could be one of the breakthrough points. The Southern Great Plain region has a special role for spas and related health tourism, and its rich historical heritage provides a good basis for cultural tourism. The main purpose of the research was to examine the tourism situation in the micro-regions of the Southern Great Plain region, using a complex tourism performance indicator and cluster analysis. Based on the results of the complex tourism performance indicator, the Gyulai micro-region performed the best in the region. The results of the indicator show that tourism is not only concentrated in the tourist areas defined by the government in the region. These micro-region are thus excluded from the target areas for tourism investment. In the future, it would be important to examine the situation of areas that are not included in the defined tourism areas and to integrate them into the tourism target areas, since tourism is a means of balanced development of the areas and can contribute to the convergence of disadvantaged areas.