Flocking to Heviz

Flocking to Heviz

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A woman floats in the water in the western Hungarian spa town of Heviz.

The town is not far from a former Soviet military airport where MIG fighter jets landed for decades when Hungary was under Soviet rule. Now, however, it is receiving plane-loads of Russian tourists instead. Locals have welcomed the wave of visitors, saying they have brought money and jobs during a deep economic downturn.

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A couple walks through a park in Heviz, a spa town with a population of 5,000. It recorded more than one million guest nights last year, making it the second most visited destination in Hungary after the capital Budapest.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

A couple walks through a park in Heviz, a spa town with a population of 5,000. It recorded more than one million guest nights last year, making it the second most visited destination in Hungary after the capital Budapest.

Swimsuits are displayed in a shop window in the town, which benefits from two charter flights that come every Sunday from Moscow to nearby Sarmellek, where a derelict Soviet air base has been converted into a small commercial airport.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Swimsuits are displayed in a shop window in the town, which benefits from two charter flights that come every Sunday from Moscow to nearby Sarmellek, where a derelict Soviet air base has been converted into a small commercial airport.

A woman leans back and enjoys the sun at Heviz's thermal spa.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

A woman leans back and enjoys the sun at Heviz's thermal spa.

Others swim in the water.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Others swim in the water.

A Hungarian man receives a mud treatment in the spa town.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

A Hungarian man receives a mud treatment in the spa town.

Men's suits hang at a luxury clothes shop in Heviz, where businesses have welcomed Russian visitors, many of whom are willing and able to spend big.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Men's suits hang at a luxury clothes shop in Heviz, where businesses have welcomed Russian visitors, many of whom are willing and able to spend big.

Shop owner Agnes Kanizsai adjusts a dress at a clothes store. She has seen lots of demand at the high end of the market: "It has happened many times that we dressed up (a lady) and we wanted to put beautiful ... jewellery on her neck and she said she would only wear diamonds."
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Shop owner Agnes Kanizsai adjusts a dress at a clothes store. She has seen lots of demand at the high end of the market: "It has happened many times that we dressed up (a lady) and we wanted to put beautiful ... jewellery on her neck and she said she would only wear diamonds."

A sign in Heviz advertises Russian-language excursions. Gabor Papp, the town's mayor, said the surge in Russian visitors had helped boost tourism revenue despite the economic crisis.
. HEVIZ, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

A sign in Heviz advertises Russian-language excursions. Gabor Papp, the town's mayor, said the surge in Russian visitors had helped boost tourism revenue despite the economic crisis.

. SARMELLEK, Hungary. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Paint peels away from the wall of a former school at an old Soviet army base close to Heviz, which now functions as a commercial airport and receives flights from Germany and Russia.