Almost 1.8 million people decided to spend their holidays in Slovakia in the first five months of this year, claims the Slovak Statistics Office. This figure represents 20.8% growth year-on-year. Moreover, the number of foreign holidaymakers went up even more significantly; by 21.6%. The highest number of foreign tourists came to Slovakia from the Czech Republic. They were followed by visitors from Poland, Germany and Hungary. The number of British, Italian, Austrian, French, Dutch, Israeli and American tourists who decided to spend holidays in Slovakia increased as well. Meanwhile, the number of Russian holidaymakers in Slovakia again posted significant growth; by 22.7%, following two years of decline caused by political and economic developments in the country.
Slovak mountains, castles, towns and spas were visited by 1.1 million domestic and 690,000 foreign tourists. "Still more domestic and foreign tourists prefer a holiday in Slovakia partly with regard to the current unstable security situation in the world. Hoteliers in the most visited tourist resorts, as well as several accommodation websites, report high demand for summer stays," stated the Slovak Tourism Agency (SACR). If the upward trend in the number of visitors in Slovakia continues, the summer of 2016 will be the most successful ever in the history of independent Slovakia," predicted SACR general director Igor Donoval.
