Ljubljana, 18 May (STA) - The final 2017 tourism data by the Statistics Office confirmed today the continuing strong expansion of the sector in Slovenia. The number of overnight stays exceeded 12 million for the first time last year, reaching 12.6 million and surpassing the 2016 figure by 13%. Tourist arrivals were up 15% to 4.95 million, also a new record.
Foreign tourists contributed 3.59 million arrivals, a 18% rise, and 8.57 million overnight stays, a 17% increase. Slovenians also made 6% more tourist trips within the country, while their overnight stays increased by 5%.
The share of overnight stays accounted for by foreign tourists has been rising ever since 2009. It stood at 55% then, at 62% in 2016, and 68% last year.
Italians (14%), Germans (12%) and Austrians (11%) led the overnight stays statistics among European guests, followed by the Dutch and Croatians (5% each), the British and Hungarians (4% each). The biggest uptick was recorded for the Dutch (35%), Germans (26%) and Hungarians (21%).
Non-European guests accounted for a combined 13% of overnight stays. The biggest rise was recorded in 2017 for Chinese visitors (37%), followed by those from South Korea (31%), Australia (23%), Canada (26%), the US (21%), and Japan (11%). The figure for Israelis fell by 17%.
In 2017, the highest number of overnight stays was recorded in mountain resorts, over 3.4 million (27% of all overnight stays) or 19% more than in 2016.
Mountain resorts overtook spa resorts for the first time in terms of overnight stays - the latter recorded 3.31 million overnight (26% of all overnight stays), which is 5% more than in 2016.
Seaside resorts (20% of all overnight stays) recorded an 11% increase and the capital of Ljubljana (12% of all overnight stays) a 16% increase in the number of overnight stays.
In 2017, more than 46,000 rooms or apartments with almost 135,000 beds were available to tourists in Slovenia; 39% in hotels and motels, boarding houses, etc., 19% in camping sites and 42% at other facilities.