The number of domestic tourists’ overnight stays in Slovenia jumped by 154.5% year-on-year in July while the number of foreign tourists’ overnight stays fell by 66.3%, the statistics office said on Tuesday.
In total, tourist overnight stays dropped 18.5% year on year, the office said.
It said the number of domestic tourists’ overnight stays in the first seven months of the year rose by 1.9% to 2.6 million, while the number of stays of foreign tourists fell by 68.5% to 2 million.
“Domestic tourists accounted for 68% of all tourist overnight stays in July … while most foreign tourists overnight stays were made by tourists from Germany, Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary,” the office said.
The statistics office also said in a separate report on Tuesday that business sentiment rose for the fourth consecutive month in August as confidence improved in services, manufacturing, retail, construction and among consumers.
The sentiment reached minus 6.6 points versus minus 17.9 in July but was still well below plus 5.7 points reached a year ago.
Analysts said the steep jump in domestic tourism was a result of the fact that international travel was restricted due to the coronavirus epidemic and that all Slovenian citizens received a tourist voucher from the state in the value of up to 200 euros ($236) that could only be used in Slovenia until the end of this year.
The government had decided to issue vouchers in the total value of some 345 million euros to boost the sector, which ground to a virtual halt during the coronavirus epidemic beginning in March.
The Alpine country, which also has resorts on the Adriatic Sea, declared an end to its coronavirus epidemic in May as the first European state to do so. It has so far reported 2,686 coronavirus cases and 133 deaths.
Slovenia expects its economy to shrink by 7.6% this year due to the coronavirus epidemic compared with growth of 2.4% in 2019.
