Hungary has an extremely high level of thermal water potential. This can be a sound base of long-term, sustainable development. This resource is especially important in south- Western part of Hungary, where there is a lack of another endogenous factor of socio-eco- nomic progression and workplace creation. After a brief description of thermal tourism in Hungary in general, and in South-Western Transdanubia in particular, the article offers a summary of a direct-question survey, aiming to understand the picture of local municipa- lities on the thermal tourism on the Hungarian side of Hungarian-Croatian border. Based on a direct-survey among the majors of municipalities, where there is a thermal bath, the research support the economic importance of thermal tourism for the settlements, but the workplace creating role of this activity is relatively low. The distributive mechanism of central resources for tourism development is unsatisfactory. There are numerous fields (e.g. transport infrastructure, joint promotion) where open good possibilities for cross-border cooperation between Hungarian and Croatian tourism-service providers.
Izvorni znanstveni rad / Original scientific paperZoltán SZABÓ