Slovenian tourism ends 2012 peak tourist season successfully

According to the provisional data provided by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenia recorded a 3.1% increase in arrivals and a 1.4% increase of overnight stays by tourists in the first 8 months of 2012 compared to the same period last year, whereby the number of foreign tourists rose by 6.1%, creating a 5.6% increase in overnight stays from the same period last year. A glance at the results for August alone reveals an even better picture.

The number of foreign tourists rose by 7.1%, which created a 6.6% increase of overnight stays.

A slightly lower total percentage of growth was the result of the lack of domestic tourists, who dropped by 2.3% and generated 4.4% fewer overnight stays than in the same period last year, thus revealing a negative impact of the tightened socio-economic situation in Slovenia.

The numbers for August 2012 alone (as the last month for which data is available at the moment) reveal that 3.6% more arrivals were recorded, with tourists generating 2.5% more overnight stays than in August 2011. The number of foreign tourist arrivals rose by 7.1%, while the number of overnight stays grew by 6.6% compared to last year’s August. The number of domestic tourist arrivals fell by 4%, while the number of overnight stays generated by the latter decreased by 4.5% compared to August 2011.

Also positive is the growth of revenues arising from tourism in the first seven months of 2012, which amounts to 3%. Hence, in this period, Slovenia recorded a balance of payments arising from tourism in the amount of €1,097,272,000 (last year €670,805,000).

The Slovenian Tourist Board is very pleased with the data indicating an increased number of foreign tourists and overnights stays, particularly those coming from key markets (other than Italy) and markets showing a high degree and potential for future growth. The growth recorded in the number of foreign tourists in Slovenia in fact surpasses the number of foreign tourists at the European level, since Europe as a whole recorded 4% growth of international tourism in the first half of the year. Let us also remember that 2011 was a record-breaking year for Slovenian tourism with respect to the number of arrivals and overnight stays (3.2 million tourist arrivals and almost 9.4 million overnight stays).

In the first 8 months of 2012, Slovenia recorded an 8.5% growth in the number of overnight stays by German tourists, thus continuing a positive growth trend of tourists coming from a traditionally very important and key market for Slovenian tourism. Tourists from Austria generated 3.7% more overnight stays in the same period, while Italy remains one of the key markets for Slovenian tourism with a 15.9% share in the total number of overnight stays and an 18.2% share in the total number of arrivals. The fact that tourism is not immune to the general economic situation at hand is proven by the smaller number of Italian guests – in the first eight months of 2012, Slovenia recorded a 2.9% drop in the number of Italian tourists, generating 6.4% fewer overnight stays – as well as a shorter vacationing period of Italian guests.

In the first 8 months, Slovenia also recorded an increase in the number of overnights stays by tourists coming from the Netherlands (30.5%), Russian Federation (22.7%), Belgium (12.6%), the Czech Republic (13.7%), Croatia (3.8%) and overseas markets, e.g. Japan (35.4%) and USA (15.3%).

According to the data provided by the Slovenian Statistical Office, the largest number of overnight stays in the first 8 months of 2012 was recorded by health resorts (31.6%), followed by mountain resorts (25.3%) and seaside resorts (22.5%). In 59.1% of cases, tourists spent the night at hotels, followed by youth hostels (27.1%) and tourist farms (16.4%).

An overview of statistics by month can be viewed here.

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