Budapest is sending a message to the world’s major cities via the illuminated windows of empty hotels

The Municipality of Budapest and the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association are launching a joint campaign. After dark, the windows of Budapest’s empty hotels display the message “4U!”. The For You! message is displayed using the lighting in certain hotel rooms. Through this small but easily understood gesture Budapest wishes to stand in solidarity with other cities that are similarly affected by the crisis caused by the coronavirus. The fact is that the tourism and catering industry shutdown, curfew restrictions and all-pervading uncertainty are equally taking their toll on every large city, company, citizen and those in charge of operating cities under these extraordinary circumstances. The 4U! message is for them, too.

The people who initiated the campaign would like to draw attention to the fact that cities and city dwellers will only be able to overcome this crisis together, by looking out for each other and acting in a tolerant and empathetic way. Light, and the attention people give each other give hope to a lot of people and help them persevere in this tough period.

The people behind the #Light4Eachother, #Light4U international campaign expect other cities to take on the message so that this kind gesture’s call for sympathy can be spread through social media.

From the last weekend of March, the 4U! message will appear in Budapest’s windows after dark, at 7:30 p.m. So far, the following hotels in Budapest have joined the illuminated message campaign:

• Budapest Marriott Hotel
• Intercontinental Budapest
• Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge
• Hilton Budapest
• Kempinski Hotel Corvinus
• Ritz Carlton Budapest
• Hotel Moments Budapest
• Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace
• Hotel Clark Budapest
• Mercure Budapest Korona
• Corinthia Hotel Budapest
• Danubius Hotel Budapest (Körszálló)
• The Aquincum Hotel Budapest
• New York Palace The Dedica Anthology
• Opera Garden Hotel & Apartments

The Municipality of Budapest and the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association are still looking for new-joiners. The initiators would like to ask participants and those wishing to express their solidarity this way to post their own pictures of the hotels or the pictures that are attached on social media with the following hashtags: #Light4Eachother, #Light4U.

Photo credit: Tamás Lénárd

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