Foreign visitors returned to Slovakia, only 5% was missing from the record numbers of foreign visitors in 2020

The total number of visitors to hotels and guesthouses almost reached the values from February in the successful year of 2019 in tourism. The number of foreign visitors grew year-on-year in 6 out of 8 regions, in 3 of them at a double-digit rate. Žilinský and Trnavský kraj reached a record number of foreign visitors.

425,000 guests visited tourism accommodation establishments in Slovakia in February this year, which was by 4.5% more than in the same period last year. The number of visitors reached almost the values of the successful year 2019 in tourism, but it was still by 12% behind the values of the last February unaffected by the pandemic in 2020.

Guests spent 1.1 million nights in hotels and guesthouses, while the average length of stay in February was 2.7 nights.

Download high resolution chart format PDF (95 kB) or PNG (145 kB).

In the structure of accommodated guests, more than 60% were domestic visitors. Their total number was comparable to last year's numbers of visitors and slightly exceeded 267,000 people. However, the number of domestic guests was still by 50,000 (16%) lower than in February just before the pandemic in 2020. On the other hand, the number of foreign visitors in hotels and guesthouses increased significantly in February of this year, the number of foreign visitors exceeded last year's figures by almost 12%. Accommodation services were used by 157,000 foreign guests, which are comparable values to the successful year 2019 in tourism. Only less than 5% of foreign guests were missing compared to the values in February 2020.

Download high resolution chart format PDF (71 kB) or PNG (97 kB).

From a regional point of view, the number of visitors of individual regions was affected by spring holidays and snow conditions in February. While domestic guests most often went to accommodation establishments in regions focused on winter tourism – Žilinský kraj, Prešovský and Banskobystrický kraj, the number of foreign visitors was mainly divided between Žilinský kraj (55 thousand), Bratislavský kraj (43 thousand) and Prešovský kraj (25- thousand guests). However, the number of foreign visitors increased year-on-year in almost all regions except Košický kraj and Trenčiansky kraj. In three of them – Trnavský kraj, Žilinský and Prešovský kraj – it grew at a double-digit rate. Žilinský kraj surpassed the high values from 2020 by 19% in the number of foreign visitors staying.

In total, for the first two months of 2024, 799,000 visitors stayed in tourism establishments. This is a year-on-year increase of 6%, compared to the first two months of 2020, 14% of guests were missing. The number of foreign visitors increased year-on-year at a faster rate than the number of domestic visitors did, by 11%. The number of domestic visitors rose by 3%.