Travel organized by the Slovak tour operators slightly declined last year, yet it remained the second most successful year since the beginning of the millennium

Last year, the number of clients of tour operators in Slovakia decreased year-on-year. Outbound tourism continued to represent the largest share of Slovak holidaymakers’ demand, with Turkey maintaining its position as the most popular destination. Slovak residents used tour operators to a lesser extent for domestic travel within Slovakia, although, the number of same-day domestic visitors increased.

In 2025, the services provided by the Slovak tour operators (TOs) and travel agencies (TAs) ¹⁾ were used by more than 1.2 million persons. Number of clients decreased 3.6% year-on-year. The previous year 2024 had been the most successful year recorded so far, when almost 1.3 million people traveled in an organized manner. The last two years have been more successful for organized stays through Slovak offices and agencies than in the period before the pandemic (in 2018 and 2019). The Statistical Office of the SR has now published data on organized tourism for 2025, providing a summary the performance of tour operators and travel agencies.

Interest in outbound trips remains high

In the long term, the most significant share of organized tourism¹⁾ is made up of trips and stays of Slovak residents abroad, i.e. outbound tourism. In 2025, 84% of organized tour clients chose this type of stay. More than 1 million persons travelled abroad on organized trips. This was the second highest number in the last 25 years, a higher volume of organized outbound travel was recorded only in 2024.

The number of Slovak holidaymakers travelling abroad dropped by 3.5% year-on-year. However, compared with the pre-pandemic level (2019), the number of outbound trips increased by more than one half. Most Slovak residents travelling abroad via tour operators or travel agencies preferred multi-day trips with overnight stays.

At the same time, there was a higher interest in one-day to several-day sightseeing tours and organized sports events. The number of persons using one-day organized trips rose year-on-year, even though the increase was milder than in 2024. The current share of same-day visitors on organized trips from Slovakia abroad was 7%.

Turkey has long remained the leading destination in the ranking of TOP package travel destinations

In terms of the popularity of package travel destinations, Turkey maintained first place, attracting every fifth holidaymaker. Despite this, the number of Slovak residents travelling there declined year-on-year by almost 16%, to 226 thousand persons. Egypt ranked second among the most visited destinations in the previous year, welcoming nearly 124 thousand visitors, with growth recorded both year-on-year and compared with 2019. Other popular destinations included Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Cyprus. Among the TOP10 most visited countries, double-digit year-on-year growth in the number of holidaymakers was recorded in Egypt (+17%) and Italy (+15%). At the same time, demand for package travel to the first six countries within the TOP10 destinations was approximately 1.5 to 5 times higher than in the pre-pandemic year 2019. Among traditional destinations, the most significant year-on-year drops in travel via travel agencies were recorded in Czechia (-16%) and Croatia (-10%), while compared with 2019 the sharpest declines were recorded in Bulgaria (-53%) and also Croatia (-47%).

More exotic destinations such as Oman and the United Arab Emirates were also included among the top twenty most visited countries last year, recording year-on-year growth in the number of holidaymakers compared with 2019 as well. Despite a year-on-year decline, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic reported more than a twentyfold increase in the number of holidaymakers compared with the pre-pandemic year 2019. The growth in the number of holidaymakers was mainly driven by continued expansion of scheduled direct air connections, as well as an increase in charter flights operated in Slovakia.

Lower interest of foreign visitors in Slovak tour operators and travel agencies persists

In 2025, 127 thousand foreign visitors arrived in Slovakia through Slovak tour operators or travel agencies. Inbound tourism thus recorded a drop in the number of people, by 3% year-on-year, or by up to 62% compared to the period before the pandemic (2019). Foreign clients of Slovak tour operators mainly preferred same-day trips without overnight stays, accounting for as much as 91% of all arrivals. The highest number of persons arrived from Austria (49 thousand), the United States (30 thousand) and Germany (14 thousand). These three countries represented more than 73% of all arriving persons.

Interest in domestic same-day package trips increased

Slovaks prefer domestic tourism organized individually rather than through package tours arranged by travel agencies. This trend was also reflected last year, when the number of participants in organized domestic tourism decreased by 6% year-on-year to almost 77 thousand persons. Although the number of residents accommodated in tourist accommodation establishments in the country recorded a decline, the number of same-day visitors increased significantly, by almost one fifth year-on-year. Compared with 2019, this represented an increase of as much as 127% in domestic same-day visitors travelling through travel agencies¹⁾. The number of overnight stays also increased, by 11% year-on-year. The highest turnover of domestic same-day package trips for resident tourists, as well as the most dynamic year-on-year growth, were recorded by entities with registered office in Žilinský kraj.

Turnover from package travel exceeded pre-pandemic levels

Total turnover of enterprises providing package travel services rose year-on-year by 4% to almost EUR 1.1 billion. Compared with 2019, this represented an increase of 46%. Outbound tourism, i.e. organized trips of Slovak residents abroad, represented more than 94% of total turnover.

Of the three tourism categories – inbound, outbound and domestic tourism – domestic tourism recorded the highest year-on-year turnover growth, reaching EUR 37 million (+15%), while outbound tourism also recorded a moderate increase, with turnover amounting to EUR 1 billion (+4%). Inbound tourism generated turnover of EUR 26 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of almost 13%. This was the only tourism category to record lower turnover also compared with 2019, by almost 10%.

From a regional perspective, enterprises with registered offices in Bratislavský kraj represented more than half of total turnover in individual tourism categories, both in outbound tourism (82%) and inbound tourism (68%). In domestic tourism, turnover was distributed more evenly across the regions of Slovakia, although the highest share was also recorded in Bratislavský kraj (33%).