In March, hotels and guesthouses were fully occupied due to spring holidays, Žilinský and Prešovský kraj were visited by more guests than before the pandemic

In March, accommodation establishments in Slovakia lacked the high pre-pandemic values (compared to March 2019) by only 7% of the total number of visitors. Similar to February, the largest number of guests visited hotels and guesthouses in winter resorts in Žilinský and Prešovský kraj, but also in Bratislavský kraj, which at the same time exceeded the pre-pandemic values of domestic visit rate.

In March 2023, the total number of visitors to tourism accommodation establishments in Slovakia increased by one-third year-on-year, which amounted to 403 thousand people. Guests spent 1 million nights in tourism establishments, the average length of stay was 2.5 nights. The increase was mainly influenced by the low comparative base in March 2022, when the activity of tourism accommodation establishments was still limited by strict anti-pandemic measures. Compared to the last pre-Covid March 2019, accommodation providers were missing only 7% (31 thousand) of guests.

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Two thirds of those accommodated were domestic visitors, a total of 263 thousand people. In March, the highest number of domestic visitors was recorded by regions of tourist importance focused on winter tourism in the mountains, namely Žilinský and Prešovský kraj. They were followed by Bratislavský kraj, which, similarly as Žilinský and Prešovský kraj, was visited by more domestic guests than in March 2019. Together, these three regions represented 64% of domestic guests.

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140 thousand foreign visitors used accommodation services in Slovakia, which is a 61% year-on-year increase in visit rate. The number of foreign guests increased year-on-year in all regions except Košický kraj, and even doubled in Bratislavský kraj. In March, the most foreigners visited Bratislavský kraj (58 thousand), Žilinský kraj (33 thousand) and Prešovský kraj (14 thousand foreign visitors). Together, these three regions represented three quarters of the total foreign visitors. The other five regions were visited by less than 11 thousand foreigners.

In total, for the first three months of 2023, 1.2 million guests stayed in tourism establishments. This is a year-on-year increase by 1.6 times. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, it was by only 8% lower than the total visit rate. The number of foreign visitors doubled year-on-year, domestic visit rate recorded a 1.4-fold increase..

Quarterly data: Development of accommodation establishment capacities

In the first quarter, a total of 4 450 accommodation establishments provided accommodation services in Slovakia. 68 thousand bedrooms and 181 thousand bed places (including camping grounds) were available to the visitors. The net occupancy rate of permanent bed places was 24.7% in the first quarter, the occupancy rate of bedrooms 29.3%. The average number of available bedrooms per day was 58 thousand, the average number of available permanent bed places per day was 134 thousand.

In the first quarter of 2023, accommodation establishments achieved turnover (excluding VAT) in the amount of EUR 112 million, which is an 66.8% increase compared to the first quarter of 2022. The highest turnover was generated by domestic visitors (61.2%). The highest total turnover was achieved in Žilinský, Prešovský and Bratislavský kraj, together these three regions reported more than 70% of the total turnover in the SR.  Žilinský and Bratislavský kraj had the highest turnover from foreign visitors.