Guests, Overnight Stays in Natural Spas Up 3% Last Year

Ljubljana, 24 January (STA) - Slovenian natural spas recorded 680,910

guests last year, who generated around 2.86 million overnight stays, 4%

more than in 2010, a conference hosted by the Slovenian Natural Spa

Association and the Slovenian Tourism Board (STO) heard on Tuesday.

STO director Maja Pak said that the 15 Slovenian natural spas last year

generated 32% of the total overnight stays in Slovenia.

Natural spas

have maintained the leading position in Slovenian tourism in terms of

overnight stays for 20 years, she added at the press conference in

Ljubljana.

In 2011, most of the foreign guests came from Austria,

Italy, Russia, Germany and Croatia, generating a combined 72% of total

overnight stays. Tourists from Ukraine, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic

and Belgium meanwhile recorded the biggest growth.

Tourists stay in

Slovenia for three days on average, while natural spa guests stay for four

days. Russians are an exception, as half of them go to Slovenian spas for

an average of ten days after visiting the country's tourist

destinations.

Global trends suggest that demand for wellness among

tourists will continue to increase, which is why natural spas can count on

revenue growth, according to Pak.

Spa Association head Iztok Altbauer

assessed that Slovenian tourism was in good shape compared to other sectors

of the economy. He noted that the number of Slovenian guests was rising

despite the difficult economic situation.