Hotels and guesthouses were visited by half as many foreigners in September as a year ago, the number of domestic guests was the same

The number of foreign tourists, despite their significant year-on-year growth, still lags behind September´s values of the tourist record year 2019 by almost a third. The largest drop in foreign clientele compared to the last pre-Covid September was still in Nitriansky, Trenčiansky and Banskobystrický kraj.

In September 2022, the total number of visitors to tourism accommodation establishment in Slovakia increased by more than 11% year-on-year, with 490 000 visitors. It was still by sixth less than in the corresponding pre-pandemic period (15.8% decrease). Guests spent more than 1.2 million nights in tourism establishments, the average length of stay in September was 2.5 nights.

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In September, 324 000 domestic guests used the services of Slovak accommodation establishments, their number decreased by nearly 0.5% year-on-year. Compared to pre-Covid September 2019, though, it was a 6.5% decrease. The tourist attractive regions- Žilinský, Prešovský and Banskobystrický kraj had the highest domestic visit rate. These three regions, together with Trnavský, were visited by fewer domestic guests than the year before. Nitriansky and Košický kraj had the highest year-on-year growth.

170 000 foreign visitors also used accommodation services in September, which is more than a 44% year-on-year increase. There were by 30% less of foreigners than before the pandemic. The number of foreign guests increased year-on-year in all regions, Košický, Bratislavský and Nitriansky kraj recorded the highest increase. Even though half as many foreigners visited Nitriansky kraj than last year, there were still by 45% fewer than in the corresponding pre-pandemic period (September 2019). The most, 70 000 foreigners, visited Bratislavský kraj in September. It was also the only region where the number of foreign guests exceeded the number of domestic guests, by a third. It was followed by Žilinský kraj (25 000 foreign visitors) and Prešovský kraj (24 000 foreign visitors). In the other five regions, foreign visitors did not exceed 15 000 people in September.

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In total, for January-September 2022, 3.7 million visitors stayed in tourism establishments. Compared to the same period before the pandemic (January-September 2019), a quarter of visitors were still missing. For the first nine months, 1.2 million foreigners used accommodation services, in 2019 their number increased by 40%, i.e. 1.9 million. The number of domestic visitors decreased by one-sixth compared to 2019, and 2.5 million domestic visitors used accommodation services since the beginning of the year. Visitors together spent almost 10 million nights in accommodation establishments, in 2019 there was 14 million.

Development of capacity of accommodation establishments in the 3rd quarter of 2022

A total of 4 515 accommodation establishments provided accommodation services in Slovakia in the 3rd quarter (an increase of 154 accommodation establishments compared to the second quarter of this year). 73 000 bedrooms and 212,000 bed places (including camping grounds) were available to visitors. The net occupancy rate of permanent bed places was 37% in the second quarter, the occupancy rate of bedrooms 40%. The average number of available bedrooms per day was 63,000, the average number of available permanent beds places per day was 145,000.

Accommodation establishments reached turnover (excluding VAT) in the amount of EUR 159 million in the third quarter of 2022, an 11% year-on-year increase. Domestic visitors (63%) represented the majority of turnover. The highest turnover was recorded in Žilinský kraj, Prešovský kraj and Bratislavský kraj, together these three regions reported 63% of the total turnover in the SR. Bratislavský kraj accounted for more than 40% of the total turnover of foreign visitors and was again the only region where the turnover of foreign visitors exceeded the turnover of domestic visitors.