The numbers of travellers from China, India, Russia and Ukraine who visited Slovakia last year set new records, PR and communications manager of the Slovak Tourism Board (SACR) Zuzana Nemcova announced.
"Eastern markets pose great potential in terms of tourism," said Nemcova. Based on figures from the Slovak Statistics Office, the overall number of visitors to Slovakia rose by 7 percent for 2012. The number of tourists from the United Kingdom went up by 18.2 percent year-on-year, while more moderate increases were seen when it came to travellers from the Czech Republic (2.9 percent) and Germany (1.8 percent). An increase was also observed in the number of Slovaks deciding to spend their holiday in their home country, with their number rising by 8.8 percent y-o-y in 2012.
Conversely, the number of tourists from Poland shrank by 4.8 percent y-o-y. While, as a rule, the number of tourists and overnight stays are rising, but the average length of stay has been falling. According to Nemcova, this is a reflection of the general trend on the international tourism market, as in general preference is being given to shorter trips.
