Fewer Slovaks Afforded Recreation Last Year

Some 2.9 million Slovaks, making up 64.5 percent of the Slovak population aged 15+, afforded recreation or some other form of overnight stay in Slovakia or abroad in 2025, according to the annual survey on domestic and outbound tourism, results of which were published by the Statistics Office on Tuesday.

Their number decreased by 1.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y), and was still almost 14 percent below the pre-pandemic levels. Nevertheless, it was the second-best figure seen in the six years since the outbreak of the pandemic. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of holidaymakers exceeded 3 million Slovaks annually.

The largest group of travellers in terms of age structure was Slovaks aged 25-44 (1.12 million people). Almost the entire y-o-y drop in the number of travellers can be ascribed to pensioners. Only just under 362,000 people aged 65+ travelled, which was 8 percent (32,000 people) fewer y-o-y. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, their number was more than 26 percent lower.

In 2025, almost 2.4 million Slovaks undertook a holiday stay within Slovakia (either exclusively or in combination with foreign trips). This group accounted for more than 80 percent of all holidaymakers aged 15+. The number decreased by 0.6 percent y-o-y, but was lower by as many as 483,000 people (17 percent) when compared to 2019.

The number of holidaymakers who travelled exclusively within Slovakia increased by just under 90,000 to 1.31 million people y-o-y. This was the only group of Slovak travellers to post y-o-y growth, rising by 7.3 percent. However, the figure still lagged 8 percent below the level seen in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Travellers who holidayed exclusively within their country accounted for nearly 45 percent of all tourists last year.

Another group were those who travelled exclusively abroad. A total of 577,000 Slovaks travelled abroad for a long weekend or holiday, down 4.2 percent y-o-y. In contrast, this was an increase of almost 12,000 people (more than 2 percent) compared to the strong travel year of 2019.

Last year 1.6 million people didn't participate in tourism, making up 36 percent of the Slovak population +15. The number of non-travellers grew by 3 percent y-o-y and was significantly (by 45 percent) higher than in the last pre-pandemic year of 2019. Half of all respondents cited financial reasons as the main cause of not travelling. One third cited health issues, with their number rising only by 3 percent y-o-y. A high y-o-y increase of 40 percent was also recorded among those who didn't travel due to family reasons.

 Source: TASR