TERRITORIAL IMPACTS OF EUROPEAN UNION DEVELOPMENT FUNDS IN THE NORTHERN HUNGARY REGION

The aim of the paper is to determine – in general and through a selected target area – what measurable territorial effects regional development grants, as development policy intervention tools, have. After reviewing the literature I examined the theoretical connections of the European Union's regional policy related to territorial and tourism development. Complex Tourism Impact Index was also used to examine the complex environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism. I conducted an examination of the tourism competitiveness factors (i.e. tourism embeddedness, tourism development, tourism efficiency and capacity utilization) and updated the methodology used to delimit core tourist areas in a previous study (Gyurkó & Bujdosó, 2017). In Hungary, tourism plays a key role in regional development, especially in underdeveloped regions with significant tourism potential. A relationship can be demonstrated between the amount of European Union funding spent on tourism development and the growth rate of the tourism sector's performance. European Union tourism grants have a measurable impact on tourism. According to the used factors, core touristic areas can be signed in the research area. Based TPI, Northern Hungary region can be considered a moderately low saturated destination, however, there are significant regional differences within the region. With my theoretical results, I drew attention to the multifaceted system of connections between tourism and regional development. I presented the cohesion objectives of the European Union's regional policy and their concrete manifestation through a convergence region in Hungary. With the help of my empirical results, I presented the different territorial impacts of the European Union's tourism development funds, as well as the impact of the funds on sectoral and competitiveness factors.