Thursday, 11 June 2026
Tourist accommodation establishments in Slovakia welcomed a record number of guests in April 2026, with both domestic and international visitor numbers reaching their highest levels for the month, according to data published by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.
A total of 464,000 guests stayed in hotels, guesthouses and other accommodation facilities during the month, representing a 10% increase compared with April 2025 and exceeding the previous April record set in 2019 by 5%.
While visitor numbers reached a new high, the total number of overnight stays remained slightly below pre-pandemic levels. Guests spent more than 1.1 million nights in accommodation establishments across the country, up nearly 10% year-on-year but still around 2% lower than in April 2019. The average length of stay was 2.4 nights.
Domestic travellers continued to account for the majority of tourism demand, representing almost two-thirds of all guests. Nearly 284,000 domestic visitors used accommodation services in April, an increase of almost 9% compared with the same month last year and nearly 5% above the previous April record from 2019.
International tourism also continued to strengthen. The number of foreign visitors rose by almost 14% year-on-year to approximately 180,000 guests, surpassing the previous April record from 2019 by nearly 6%.
Visitors from the Czech Republic remained the largest international source market, accounting for 26.4% of all foreign guests, or nearly 43,000 visitors. Poland ranked second, contributing almost 16,000 visitors and representing 9.7% of all foreign arrivals.
Regional performance varied, with seven of Slovakia’s eight regions recording year-on-year growth in visitor numbers. The strongest increase was reported in the Žilina Region, where guest numbers rose by 16.2%, while the Trnava Region was the only area to record a decline, with visitor numbers falling by 2%.
Bratislava Region remained the country’s most visited destination, attracting 133,000 guests during April. It was followed by the Žilina Region with 94,000 guests and the Prešov Region with 71,000 visitors. Together, Bratislava and Žilina accounted for around half of all accommodation guests in Slovakia.
Bratislava, Žilina, Prešov and Košice regions all recorded their highest-ever April visitor numbers as well as record levels of overnight stays for the month.
Bratislava Region also remained the leading destination for foreign tourists, welcoming approximately 88,000 international visitors. It was the only Slovak region where foreign guests accounted for the majority of visitors, with almost every second foreign tourist visiting Slovakia choosing accommodation in the capital region.
The positive trend continued throughout the first four months of the year. Between January and April 2026, accommodation establishments hosted more than 1.8 million guests, an increase of 10% compared with the same period of 2025 and 9% above the corresponding period in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Growth in international tourism outpaced domestic demand during the period, with foreign visitor numbers increasing by 15% year-on-year compared with a 6% rise among domestic travellers.
Source: SOSR
