The Year 2023
In 2023, Slovenia recovered faster than the European and world average
According to the lates data from the UN Tourism, international arrivals at the global level in 2023 were still behind 2019 (the year before the pandemic) by 12 percent, and in Europe by 6 percent. Slovenia therefore recovered faster than the European and world average. The Middle East recorded even 22 percent more international arrivals than in 2019. According to the UN Tourism, global tourism should achieve full recovery this year.
A remarkable annual performance
The year 2023 was the most successful year for Slovenian tourism so far. We recorded 16.13 million overnight stays, which is 2 percent more than in 2019 and 3.5 percent more than in 2022. We realized 6.19 million arrivals, which is almost 6 percent rise compared to 2022 and only 0.6 percent drop compared to 2019. At the same time, we kept the average length of stay at the level of 2019, despite the trend of shorter breaks during the year.
Strong growth in arrivals - the structure of overnight stays in 2023 equalized with 2019
Despite facing challenges, such as floods during the peak season, and the unfavorable global factors, we exceeded the number of overnight stays by foreign guests by almost 2 %, and the number of overnight stays by domestic guests by almost 4 % compared to 2019. Compared to 2022, foreign tourists made 15 % more overnight stays, while domestic tourists made 17 % fewer. The ratio of overnight stays by domestic and foreign guests has thus normalised and returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Strong growth in arrivals from the German and Visegrad markets
Germany, Italy and Austria remain the most crucial foreign markets, followed by the Czech, Dutch, Croatian, Hungarian, French, Polish and UK markets.
Overnight stays by German tourists increased by 24.4 % compared to 2019. Markets in the Visegrad Group, including the Czech Republic (+28.8 %), Hungary (+14.1 %), Poland (+31.4 %), and Slovakia (+36.5 %), showed significant growth. The Netherlands (+9.9 %), Belgium (+7.1 %), France (+28.9 %) and Croatia (+15.5 %) also saw positive trends. However, tourists from Italy (-15.6 %), the United Kingdom (-13.6 %), and Austria (-3.3 %t) are returning more slowly post-pandemic. Multi-year trends in these markets indicate a gradual recovery.
Slovenians go to medical spas, foreign tourists discover mountain municipalities
Domestic tourists spent the most overnight stays in spas (39 %) and seaside municipalities (27 %), while foreign tourists stayed in mountain municipalities (35 %) and Ljubljana (19 %). All types of municipalities are booming, except medical spas, which are facing a decline in Russian guests.
The growth rates of overnight stays compared to the year before the pandemic reveal a revival in most municipalities. Radovljica recorded the highest growth among the TOP 15 municipalities in terms of overnight stays (+40%), followed by Koper and Maribor (+23% and +17%) and Bovec and Bohinj (+15% and +14%).
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