Tourism in Slovenia

Triglav, the highest peak

Lake Bled

Postojna Cave

Planica

Piran, a coast town

Slovenia offers tourists a wide variety of landscapes: Alpine in the northwest, Mediterranean in the southwest, Pannonian in the northeast, and Dinaric in the southeast. They roughly correspond to the traditional regions of Slovenia, based on the former four Habsburg crown lands (Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, and the Littoral). Each offers its own natural, geographic, architectural, and cultural features. Slovenia has mountains, meadows, lakes, caves, and the sea, making it an attractive destination in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The nation's capital, Ljubljana, has many important Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings, with several important works of the native born architect Jože Plečnik. Other attractions include the Julian Alps with picturesque Lake Bled and the Soča Valley, as well as the nation's highest peak, Mount Triglav. Perhaps even better known is the Karst Plateau in the Slovenian Littoral. More than 28 million visitors have visited Postojna Cave, while a 15-minute ride from it are Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Several other caves are open to public, including Vilenica Cave.

Further in the same direction is the Adriatic coast, where the most important historical monument is the Venetian Gothic Mediterranean town of Piran. The neighboring town of Portorož is a popular modern tourist resort, offering entertainment in gambling tourism. The former fishermen town of Izola has also been transformed into a popular tourist destination; many tourists also appreciate the old Medieval center of the port of Koper, which is however less popular among tourists than the other two Slovenian coastal towns.

Styria is known for its white wine, especially the Ljutomer Riesling, after the ski resort Pohorje, after summer cultural festivals in Maribor, and after pumpkin seed oil. It is also known as a hop growing area producing Styrian Goldings, a variety of the English aroma hop Fuggles.

The northeastern Prekmurje region is known for its distinctive cuisine. Among traditional dishes, the best known are a pork, turnip and millet casserole called bujta repa and a layered pastry called prekmurska gibanica. An important spa town in the region is Moravske Toplice, which is attracting many German, Austrian, Italian and Russian visitors.

Rural tourism is important throughout the country, and it is especially developed in the Karst Plateau region, parts of Inner Carniola, Lower Carniola and northern Istria, and in the area around Podčetrtek and Kozje in eastern Styria. Horse-riding, cycling and hiking are among the most important tourist activities in these areas.

Triglav National Park (Slovene: Triglavski narodni park) is a national park located in Slovenia. It was named after Mount Triglav, a national symbol of Slovenia. Triglav is situated almost in the middle of the national park. From it the valleys spread out radially, supplying water to two large river systems having their sources in the Julian Alps: the Soča and the Sava, flowing to the Adriatic and Black Sea, respectively.

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The proposal for conservation dates back to the year 1908, and was realised in 1924. Then, on the initiative taken by the Nature Protection Section of the Slovene Museum Society together with the Slovene Mountaineering Society, a twenty-year lease was taken out on the Triglav Lakes Valley area, some 14 km². It was destined to become an Alpine Protection Park, however permanent conservation was not possible at that time. In 1961, after many years of effort, the protection was renewed (this time on a permanent basis) and somewhat enlarged, embracing around 20 km². The protected area was officially designated as Triglav National Park. Under this act, however, all objectives of a true national park were not attained and for this reason over the next two decades, new proposals for the extension and rearrangement of the protection were put forward. Finally, in 1981, a rearrangement was achieved and the park was given a new concept and enlarged to 838 km² – the area it continues to cover to this day.

The Karawank mountain range and the Kamnik Alps are also important tourist destinations, as are the Pohorje mountains. Unlike the Julian Alps, however, these areas seem to attract mostly Slovene visitors and visitor from the neighboring regions of Austria, and remain largely unknown to tourists from other countries. The biggest exception is the Logar Valley, which has been promoted heavily since the 1980s.

Slovenia has a number of smaller Medieval towns, which serve as important tourist attractions. Among them, the best known are Ptuj, Škofja Loka, and Piran. Fortified villages, mostly located in western Slovenia (Štanjel, Vipavski Križ, Šmartno), have become an important tourist destination, as well, especially due to the cultural events organized in their scenic environments.

Foreign tourists

Arrivals

Most foreign arrivals in Slovenia by country:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rank	Country	2018	2019	2020	Growth
1	Template:GER	506.081	584.831	289.143	Template:Decrease 102.3%
2	Template:ITA	598.825	597.261	159.080	Template:Decrease 275.4%
3	Template:AUT	381.709	396.464	142.828	Template:Decrease 177.6%
4	Template:CRO	218.896	234.980	82.062	Template:Decrease 186.3%
5	Template:HUN	180.802	190.944	63.152	Template:Decrease 202.4%
6	Template:NED	185.275	186.700	45.080	Template:Decrease 314.2%
7	Template:CZE	160.079	189.802	44.944	Template:Decrease 322.3%
8	Template:SRB	137.516	144.753	42.680	Template:Decrease 239.2%
9	Template:FRA	148.166	166.860	35.679	Template:Decrease 367.6%
10	Template:BIH	66.927	72.049	34.757	Template:Decrease 107.3%
11	Template:POL	125.209	132.566	26.413	Template:Decrease 401.9%
12	Template:SVK	58.886	64.765	24.196	Template:Decrease 167.7%
13	Template:GBR	163.996	159.767	20.189	Template:Decrease 691.4%
14	Template:SUI	67.751	78.698	18.186	Template:Decrease 332.7%
15	Template:BEL	107.656	113.872	17.760	Template:Decrease 541.2%
16	Template:USA	138.488	148.739	14.327	Template:Decrease 938.2%
17	Template:RUS	62.845	69.881	13.997	Template:Decrease 399.3%
18	Template:ROM	55.982	57.060	12.740	Template:Decrease 347.9%
19	Template:KOR	145.746	139.429	10.525	Template:Decrease 1225%
20	Template:ESP	81.905	88.132	9.407	Template:Decrease 836.7%

Overnight stays

Most foreign overnight stays in Slovenia by country:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rank	Country	2018	2019	2020	Growth
1	Template:GER	1.362.214	1.522.057	813.962	Template:Decrease 87.0%
2	Template:AUT	1.011.153	1.011.682	373.236	Template:Decrease 171.1%
3	Template:ITA	1.334.059	1.278.454	364.373	Template:Decrease 250.9%
4	Template:CRO	527.118	538.140	224.235	Template:Decrease 140.0%
5	Template:HUN	484.913	496.971	181.859	Template:Decrease 173.3%
6	Template:NED	612.710	583.274	155.956	Template:Decrease 274.0%
7	Template:SRB	376.162	379.755	141.872	Template:Decrease 167.7%
8	Template:CZE	431.335	511.754	129.436	Template:Decrease 295.4%
9	Template:BIH	195.513	195.874	116.491	Template:Decrease 68.1%
10	Template:FRA	339.177	370.188	82.350	Template:Decrease 349.5%
11	Template:POL	297.403	312.763	65.934	Template:Decrease 374.4%
12	Template:SVK	154.780	164.025	65.336	Template:Decrease 151.0%
13	Template:GBR	470.588	444.333	61.127	Template:Decrease 626.9%
14	Template:RUS	298.443	303.280	59.664	Template:Decrease 408.3%
15	Template:BEL	325.845	327.392	49.839	Template:Decrease 556.9%
16	Template:SUI	150.388	165.301	39.810	Template:Decrease 315.2%
17	Template:USA	314.861	323.064	37.414	Template:Decrease 763.5%
18	Template:MKD	65.651	59.511	31.834	Template:Decrease 86.9%
19	Template:ESP	204.002	207.770	30.514	Template:Decrease 580.9%
20	Template:UKR	118.220	120.849	29.004	Template:Decrease 316.7%

Municipalities

Arrivals

Total arrivals by Slovenian municipalities.

Rank	Municipality	2018	2019	2020	Growth
1	Piran	604.592	620.495	368.510	Template:Decrease 68.4%
2	Ljubljana	1.022.862	1.127.904	254.944	Template:Decrease 342.4%
3	Kranjska Gora	308.193	325.955	202.705	Template:Decrease 60.8%
4	Bled	496.677	509.247	170.084	Template:Decrease 199.4%
5	Bohinj	248.639	271.692	157.469	Template:Decrease 72.5%
6	Bovec	175.705	188.514	127.420	Template:Decrease 47.9%
7	Brežice	202.780	202.470	115.953	Template:Decrease 74.6%
8	Moravske Toplice	168.760	171.930	114.806	Template:Decrease 49.8%
9	Izola	140.690	148.173	103.248	Template:Decrease 43.5%
10	Podčetrtek	122.986	129.933	90.011	Template:Decrease 44.4%
11	Koper-Capodistria	100.788	103.786	Template:Abbr	Template:Decrease 35.9%
12	Maribor	208.279	217.817	72.380	Template:Decrease 200.9%
13	Zreče	76.612	78.935	63.271	Template:Decrease 24.8%
14	Ankaran	83.402	83.335	Template:Abbr	Template:Decrease 32.3%
15	Kobarid	67.698	79.915	57.513	Template:Decrease 39.0%
16	Radovljica	124.026	141.012	57.488	Template:Decrease 145.3%
17	Laško	93.057	83.661	44.771	Template:Decrease 86.9%
18	Tolmin	56.446	61.809	44.142	Template:Decrease 40.0%
19	Nova Gorica	107.616	102.981	44.039	Template:Decrease 133.8%
20	Rogaška Slatina	59.904	58.208	33.434	Template:Decrease 74.1%
21	Ptuj	64.078	66.970	32.138	Template:Decrease 108.4%
22	Postojna	105.497	116.330	26.511	Template:Decrease 338.8%
23	Sežana	69.348	70.685	22.465	Template:Decrease 214.6%
24	Lendava	35.059	39.105	19.396	Template:Decrease 101.6%
25	Kranj	68.798	70.938	15.298	Template:Decrease 363.7%

Overnight stays

Total overnight stays by Slovenian municipalities.

Rank	Municipality	2018	2019	2020	Growth
1	Piran	1.882.383	1.874.462	1.272.942	Template:Decrease 47.3%
2	Kranjska Gora	828.763	870.949	613.583	Template:Decrease 41.9%
3	Ljubljana	2.179.916	2.227.669	540.195	Template:Decrease 312.4%
4	Bohinj	677.695	724.094	468.588	Template:Decrease 54.3%
5	Bled	1.151.831	1.132.574	433.831	Template:Decrease 161.1%
6	Izola	522.290	529.069	412.118	Template:Decrease 28.4%
7	Brežice	680.003	686.869	403.066	Template:Decrease 70.4%
8	Moravske Toplice	559.169	558.544	393.094	Template:Decrease 42.1%
9	Bovec	462.077	468.798	364.536	Template:Decrease 28.6%
10	Podčetrtek	391.859	404.916	293.165	Template:Decrease 38.1%
11	Ankaran	323.355	318.914	Template:Abbr	Template:Decrease 13.5%
12	Koper	283.217	293.622	Template:Abbr	Template:Decrease 17.2%
13	Zreče	274.228	278.331	233.790	Template:Decrease 19.1%
14	Maribor	466.620	454.004	196.397	Template:Decrease 131.2%
15	Radovljica	280.103	317.586	158.805	Template:Decrease 100.0%
16	Kobarid	186.187	202.297	158.011	Template:Decrease 28.0%
17	Laško	289.797	235.187	139.714	Template:Decrease 68,3%
18	Rogaška Slatina	295.474	298.835	121.120	Template:Decrease 146.7%
19	Tolmin	157.852	161.160	119.228	Template:Decrease 35.2%
20	Dolenjske Toplice	138.609	133.877	100.234	Template:Decrease 33.6%
21	Nova Gorica	214.181	193.824	91.627	Template:Decrease 111.5%
22	Ptuj	146.677	156.668	90.845	Template:Decrease 72.5%
23	Lendava	124.081	132.294	66.134	Template:Decrease 100.0%
24	Postojna	164.425	165.298	45.078	Template:Decrease 266.7%
25	Kranj	128.510	121.367	39.099	Template:Decrease 210.4%

By years

Total arrivals

Total arrivals by year: <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year	Foreign	Domestic	Total	Growth
2015	3.022.018	1.351.860	4.373.878	Template:Increase 12.1%
2016	3.396.873	1.437.198	4.834.071	Template:Increase 10.5%
2017	3.990.682	1.512.602	5.503.284	Template:Increase 13.8%
2018	4.425.139	1.508.128	5.933.266	Template:Increase 7.8%
2019	4.701.878	1.527.695	6.229.573	Template:Increase 4.94%
2020	1.216.114	1.848.971	3.065.085	Template:Decrease 103.2%
2021	1.832.446	2.171.236	4.003.682	Template:Increase 30.6%
2022	3.935.632	1.932.506	5.868.138	Template:Increase 46.6%

Total overnight stays

Total overnight stays by year: <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year	Foreign	Domestic	Total	Growth
2015	7.481.657	4.172.197	11.653.764	Template:Increase 8.5%
2016	8.339.978	4.307.898	12.647.876	Template:Increase 8.5%
2017	9.685.329	4.523.216	14.208.545	Template:Increase 12.3%
2018	11.176.010	4.518.695	15.694.705	Template:Increase 10.5%
2019	11.370.766	4.404.565	15.775.331	Template:Increase 0,51%
2020	3.354.365	5.850.018	9.204.374	Template:Decrease 71.4%
2021	4.794.472	6.456.686	11.251.158	Template:Increase 22.2%
2022	10.075.084	5.506.772	15.581.856	Template:Increase 38.5%

External links

• https://www.slovenia.info/
• Template:Commons category-inline