Stats: Accommodation Providers Hit New Record for July with 780,000 Guests

Bratislava, 11 September (TASR) - The number of people staying in tourist accommodation facilities in Slovakia rose by 17 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to almost 780,000 in July 2026, the Statistics Office reported on Friday, adding that this was the highest-ever number for July, surpassing the record set in July 2019 by one-tenth. Domestic clientele with almost 450,000 guests made up 58 percent of the total number, up by nearly 13 percent y-o-y, but still 7 percent short of the record month for July - in 2021. The number of foreign visitors rose by as much as 23 percent to an all-time high of almost 330,000, exceeding the previous record set in July 2019 by 11 percent. Czech tourists were the largest group of foreign clientele, accounting for 31 percent of them (102,000 people). The second-largest group were Poles, making up 17 percent of foreign guests (almost 56,000 people). Visitors spent nearly 2.3 million nights in hotels, guest houses and other accommodation facilities in Slovakia in July. This was an increase of 14.3 percent y-o-y and also the second-highest July number in the past ten years, with July 2019 remaining the most successful month, when the number of overnight stays was 5 percent higher than the current figure. Domestic guests accounted for 1.4 million overnight stays in July, up by 8 percent y-o-y, but fell short of hitting a new record, with higher figures seen in July in three earlier years. Foreign tourists posted 855,000 overnight stays in July, up by a quarter y-o-y, exceeding the previous record set in July 2019 by 2 percent. Of Slovakia's eight regions, Zilina region posted the highest number of overnight stays at 539,000, surpassing the record from July 2019 by 13 percent. With nearly 113,000 guests, Bratislava was the most popular destination for foreigners, remaining the only Slovak region where foreign visitors, at 71 percent, outnumbered domestic ones. In the first seven months of 2026, the number of guests staying in tourist accommodation facilities amounted to 3.8 million, up by one-tenth y-o-y and exceeding the pre-pandemic year of 2019 by 8 percent. jrg