September brought a lower number of guests to accommodation providers than last year, the increases from the summer holidays were not repeated

The number of guests in accommodation establishments in Slovakia decreased by more than 8% in September, it was the second and more significant decrease this year. It was due to the lowest September´s number of domestic guests in the last 4 years and the persistent lower number of foreigners.

In September 2024, 504 000 people spent at least one night in hotels, guesthouses, spas and other accommodation establishments in Slovakia. It was 8.3%, i.e. by 46 000 people less than in the corresponding period last year. Accommodation providers recorded fewer guests than last year only twice this year, i.e. in April and September. At the beginning of the academic year, travelling always naturally slows down compared to the summer season, the current number of visitors has remained at the fourth place since the beginning of this year.

Compared to September 2019, the most successful tourist season, accommodation providers had significantly fewer guests, 13.6% (79 000) were still missing. Guests spent more than 1.2 million nights in tourism establishments, which was by 10.2% less than a year ago. The average length of stay was 2.4 nights.

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The September´s result was mainly affected by the year-on-year decrease in the number of domestic guests. Their number dropped by more than 9% compared to last year, and was lower than in the previous 3 years and significantly behind even the record September 2019. Domestic visitors represented almost two thirds of those accommodated, i.e. 314 000 people.

The number of foreign visitors also decreased during the ninth month, year-on-year by almost 8% to 189 000 people. Compared to the record values from September 2019, a fifth of foreigners were missing.

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Development of tourism in the regions of Slovakia

From a regional perspective, the number of visitors in 7 out of 8 regions of Slovakia was lower year-on-year, ranging from 4% in Košický kraj to 13% in Nitriansky and Trnavský kraj. The only exception was Bratislavský kraj, where the number of guests slightly increased (by 1.3%). Compared to the pre-Covid September 2019, visit rate in all regions lagged behind, moslyt in Nitriansky kraj (by 22%) and the least in Košický kraj (by 5%).

The most visited region of the SR during the ninth month of 2024 was Bratislavský kraj, where over 127 000 guests stayed overnight. It is the only region in the SR where foreigners have a long-term predominance. In total, almost 41% of foreigners who spent at least one night in Slovakia in September stayed in this region. It is also the only region that managed to attract more domestic tourists year-on-year in September.

Žilinský kraj (almost 102 000 visitors), Prešovský kraj (almost 92 000 guests) and the Banskobystrický kraj (almost 53 000 visitors) followed in the rankings of regions. These three regions were able to attract almost half (49%) of all the domestic overnight guests.

Summary for the first nine months of 2024

In total, since the beginning of 2024, almost 4.6 million guests have stayed in tourism establishments. This was a year-on-year increase by almost 2%. The growth in the number of foreigners as well as domestic visitors was comparable (up to 2%).

Development of turnover and capacity of accommodation establishments in the 3rd quarter of 2024

Accommodation establishments in the third quarter of 2024 achieved a total of almost EUR 199 million in turnover (without VAT), which was a more than 3% year-on-year increase. The majority, over 60%, was represented by domestic visitors. Among the regions, there was a highest turnover in Žilinský, Prešovský and Bratislavský kraj. These three regions represented almost two thirds of the turnover in Slovakia. More than half of the turnover in almost all regions was represented by domestic clientele, only in Bratislavský kraj were foreigners (almost 70% of turnover). However, turnover from domestic visitors rose more dynamically than turnover from foreign guests.

In total, 4 981 accommodation establishments provided accommodation services in Slovakia in the third quarter. 76 000 bedrooms and almost 223 000 bed places (including camping grounds) were available to the visitors. The net occupancy rate of permanent bed places reached 35.7%, occupancy rate of bedrooms 39%. On average, 69 000 bedrooms and 163 000 permanent bed places per day were available.