Stats: Accommodation Providers Hit New Record for February with 496,000 Guests

Bratislava, 13 April (TASR) - The number of people staying in tourist accommodation facilities in Slovakia rose to 496,000 in February 2026, up by one tenth year-on-year (y-o-y) and surpassing the previous February high (in 2020) by 3 percent, the Statistics Office reported on Monday, adding that guests spent a total of almost 1.4 million nights in Slovak hotels and guest houses. Overnight stays by foreign visitors reached an all-time high of 530,000 in February, up by 13 percent y-o-y. Domestic clientele recorded the second-highest number of overnight stays at 825,000, which was up by nearly 8 percent y-o-y, but still 11 percent short of the record month for February - in 2020. The average length of stay in February 2026 was 2.7 nights. The total number of domestic visitors at almost 301,000 accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total number, up by 7 percent y-o-y, but 5 percent lower than in February 2020. The number of foreign clientele rose by 15 percent y-o-y to an all-time high for February at 195,000. Of Slovakia's eight regions, seven saw y-o-y increases in the number of visitors, ranging from 0.1 percent in Banska Bystrica to 15.6 percent in Zilina region. Nitra was the only region to record fewer guests y-o-y, by 2.9 percent. More than half of all visitors headed to Zilina and Presov regions, which thus registered their highest-ever February figures, both in terms of domestic and foreign clientele. With nearly 88,000 guests, Bratislava was the third most popular destination in February, remaining the only Slovak region where foreign visitors, at 54,000, outnumbered domestic ones. jrg/df