Number of tourists up 9.9% in 2016 to a record 4.32m
Ljubljana, 18 May - Slovenia saw another significant rise in foreign as well as domestic tourists in 2016, with the total record figure of 4,318,000 meaning a 9.9% increase over 2015. Overnight stays by foreign tourists climbed by 11% to 7.34m, show data released by the Statistics Office on Thursday.
Ljubljana
Tourists in Ljubljana
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
More than 3.032m arrivals by foreign tourists were recorded, a 12% improvement on 2015. The number of overnight stays by domestic tourists also increased, by 3% to 3.84m, as did arrivals, by 5.3% to 1.29m.
Italian (16%), Austrian, German (11% each), Croatian (5%), Dutch, British and Hungarian (4% each) tourists generated the most foreign overnight stays.
Overnight stays rose for all key markets - for Hungary by 22%, for Britain by 14%, Croatia 10%, Italy 9%, Germany and Austria both by 8% and the Netherlands by 6%. Israel grew the most among overseas markets, by 28%.
Municipalities with spa resorts had the most overnight stays, almost 3.166m or 4% more than in 2015. Mountain municipalities saw a 12% increase to 2.867m, coastal municipalities were up by 5% and Ljubljana by a notable 13%.
The number of overnight stays increased at all types of accommodation facilities: in youth hostels by 26%, in private accommodation by 22%, in hotels by 7% and at camping sites by 4%. Camping accounted for 12% of all overnight stays.
The figures are even more upbeat than in a preliminary report presented by the Economy Ministry in January.