
Slovenia names top choices for foreign tourists
Slovenia saw an increase in visitor numbers in the first half of the year. Arrivals were up by 8.4% year-on-year to 2.8 million and nights spent by tourists at the country's accommodation facilities rose by 7.7% to 6.9 million, fresh data from the national Statistical Office show.
Foreign visitors accounted for 71% of all the nights spent in the first six months of the year, with the figure rising by 10.6% on the same period last year to 4.9 million. Most of the foreign tourists came from Germany, Italy and Austria, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
Locals spent roughly two million nights at tourism accommodation facilities, up by 1.4% year-on-year.
Mountain resorts most popular
Hotels remain the most popular accommodation with over 3.4 million nights in the first half of the year. Tourists spent some 1.4 million nights in private rooms, apartments and houses, and some 700,000 in campsites.
Mountain resorts were the most popular destination, accounting for 1.9 million of overnight stays, followed by spa towns with 1.5 million nights, and seaside resorts and Ljubljana with some 1.1 million nights each.
In June alone Slovenia attracted 794,737 visitor arrivals and 1.97 million nights, up 17.2% and 19.5%, respectively, year-on-year. The number of foreign visitors was up by 20% to 639,000 and the nights they spent rose by a quarter to over 1.5 million. Almost 40% of foreign tourists stayed in Ljubljana, the seaside town of Piran and the lakeside resort of Bled.
European Capital of Culture major draw
As the European Capital of Culture this year with its Italian partner Gorizia, the western city of Nova Gorica is reporting around 20% increase in visitor numbers.
Arrivals and nights in May and June were up by roughly 30% year-on-year, according to data presented by the municipality on 24 July. Between 8 February, when the project launched, and 20 July, the municipality recorded 42,000 visitor arrivals, up 19% on the same period last year. The number of nights rose by 20% to 80,000.
Most visitors came from Italy, followed by Slovenians, Germans and Austrians. The most popular sites are Europe Square, the Kostanjevica Monastery, Mt Sabotin and Rihemberk Castle.