Consul General of Hungary in New York, Ambassador Dr. Gábor Horváth began the evening with the Hungarian saying, “Anything which is good does not need promotion, but deserves it!” Tourism is a hot market for Hungary; in Budapest, 350,000 people work in the tourism industry, with travel being driven by five predominant countries to Hungary, with the United States ranking very high in tourism numbers. The goal of the Hungarian National Tourist Office “is to make Hungary more sexy, and attract more tourists.”

                          

Consul General of Hungary, Ambassador Dr. Gabor Horvath, Zoltan Somogyi, and Peter Gomori

Special guest, Mr. Zoltan Somogyi, President of the Hungarian Tourism Board in Budapest, flew in from Hungary to attend the reception and to welcome Mr. Péter Gömöri to his new position as Director of the Hungarian National Tourist Office in New York, and to attend the ASTA World Congress Meeting in Montreal, Canada.

Although Mr. Gábor Zsámboky was unable to attend the event in his honor, Consul General of Hungary in New York, Ambassador Dr. Gábor Horváth read a letter from Mr. Zsámboky, thanking his staff, Ms. Nicole Rona, Ms. Aniko Sarkozy and Ms. Ildiko Vanek-Csuday, thanking the guests for coming, and spoke about his time in New York with fond memories. He wrote that he is proud that, “Budapest is now one of the most successful locations in Central Europe.”

After the ceremony, acclaimed Hungarian pianist, Ms. Christina Kiss, treated guests to an exhilarating recital, performing three selections from Franz Liszt: Les Jeaux d’eaux a la Villa d’Este, Sonetto del Petrarca No. 104, and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Ms. Kiss is one of the foremost Liszt interpreters, and to date having performed more than 550 of Franz Liszt’s works has performed more of his works than any other pianist. She has been performing the Liszt Cycle since 1990, and should complete this monumental project to perform all of Franz Liszt’s work around 2015. She has been performing the “Cycle” at the Consulate General of Hungary for the past three seasons.

Luxury Experience bids a fond farewell to Mr. Gábor Zsámboky and wishes him much success and happiness on his new endeavor in Scottsdale, Arizona, and extends a warm welcome to Mr. Péter Gömöri on his new position in New York.

For information on Hungary, please visit: www.gotohungary.comwww.gotohungary.com.

To read other articles on Hungary, please read: Destination - Budapest, Hungary, Arts & Antiques - Erika Miklosa, Arts & Antiques - Adam Fellegi, and Chefs' Recipes - Budapest (English version), Chefs' Recipes - Budapest, Hungary (Hungarian version), Hotels & Resorts - Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest.

© February 2006. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com. All rights reserved.