Foreign tourists and their expenditures, December 2021–January 2022

Most foreign tourists came for private reasons, one in seven for business reasons

In December 2021–January 2022, almost 111,000 foreign tourist arrivals were registered in hotels (which is 41% of all tourist arrivals in hotels). 81% of foreign tourists visited Slovenia for private reasons and 14% for business reasons. 

For most foreign tourists who visited Slovenia for private reasons the main reason was holidays (43%). In the winter season, the share of foreign tourists who visited Slovenia for recreation was slightly higher (22%).

Foreign tourists mainly booked their accommodation in hotels themselves

45% of foreign tourists made reservations of accommodation themselves via one of the online booking systems, and 34% made reservations directly with the accommodation establishment. Only 4% made reservations through a travel agency, while for 8% the reservation was made by others (school, employer, club, union, etc.). The remaining 9% of foreign tourists came to Slovenia without any advance booking.

Most foreign tourists visited Slovenia together with their partner or spouse or with family with children

Most foreign tourists visited Slovenia with their partner or spouse (42%). 22% visited Slovenia with family with children, 19% visited Slovenia alone, and 11% came to Slovenia with friends.

Six out of ten foreign tourists were affected by the COVID-19 epidemic in their decision to come to Slovenia

60% of foreign tourists said that the COVID-19 epidemic had an impact on their decision to come to Slovenia. Among those (multiple answers were allowed), 77% stated that they visited Slovenia because they consider it a safe destination regarding COVID-19, 46% chose Slovenia because of its proximity or accessibility, which allows them to return home quickly if the epidemic situation changes, and 38% said they know the accommodation facility and they feel safe there. 

Almost two thirds of foreign tourists who came for private reasons had already visited Slovenia before 

Among foreign tourists who came to Slovenia for private reasons, more than one third came to Slovenia for the first time and two thirds visited for the first time the place of the interview. The share of foreign tourists who had already visited the place of the interview was the highest in seaside and mountain municipalities (98% and 45%, respectively), and the lowest in Ljubljana (only 20%). 

Foreign tourists who stayed in hotels in seaside municipalities spent on average substantially less money than those staying in urban and other municipalities

Foreign tourists staying in hotels spent on average EUR 185 per day for accommodation in Slovenia, for food and drink, transport within Slovenia, leisure and other activities and purchases. Foreign tourists staying in hotels in urban and other municipalities spent on average the most (EUR 231 per day), and those staying in hotels in seaside municipalities the least (EUR 117 per day). 

Foreign tourists staying in hotels spent 44% of their daily expenses on accommodation, 23% on food and drink, 9% for purchases and the rest for transport within Slovenia, gambling, leisure and other activities. 

For 77% of foreign tourists the expenditures were within expectations, for 19% they were higher than they expected, while in the opinion of the rest of foreign tourists they were lower than they expected.

Tables with the latest data are available in the SiStat Database

Corrected data on opinions on expenditures of foreign tourists have been published in the SiStat Database. Due to a technical error, the data for categories higher than expected and within expectations were interchanged with one another. Consequently, this data was incorrectly interpreted in the release Foreign tourists and their expenditures, September–October 2021. We have made necessary corrections to the release and apologise for any inconvenience.