The Observer: Secret affair? Float your boat in Hungary

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Secret affair? Float your boat in Hungary - by Daniel McLaughlin

Hungary's new tourism campaign is a cheeky promotional cartoon intended to change Balaton's dowdy image and seize a slice of the booming market in amorous weekends and boozy breaks for Central Europe's largest lake. The sex and infidelity in the film have not, however, brought a smile to the faces of all Hungarians. Many of them are conservative Catholics who voted in a recent general election for the Fidesz opposition party, whose slogan was 'Work, Home, Family'. 'This is a shameful way to promote the country, with a married man taking a lover on a boat,' said Fidesz supporter Ildiko Matyas, a teacher in the capital, Budapest. 'Balaton has always been a family resort, not a place for this sort of business.

'The Christian Democratic People's party, which is allied to Fidesz, condemned the cartoon for 'encouraging sex tourism'. CDP spokeswoman Zsuzsa Halasz said: 'It is outrageous that the Hungarian Tourist Board, which is financed by taxpayers' money, wants to attract tourists by offering opportunities for love affairs to married men instead of showing our country's natural beauty and heritage.' EU-Digest: to view the promotional cartoon go to: http://abalatoninyar.fw.hu/