According to statistics released by the Statistics Office, the number of foreigners visiting Slovakia increased in the first half of this year by around 12% year-on-year.
The Slovak Tourist Board accompanied by transport minister Jan Figel were quick to take praise for the rising figures, when they announced them at a press conference yesterday. In total around 658,000 foreign tourists came to Slovakia in the first half of the year, with a third of them from the Czech Republic.
Head of SACR Peter Belinsky pointed out how the number of Hungarian tourists had increased by over 21% in the same period, him putting it down to improved relations between the two countries. It is quite an increase compared to the Polish, for instance, where there was only a 5% year-on-year growth.
There was no mention of how the Ice-Hockey World Championships this year boosted the figures, especially as the projected number of visitors compared to the actual number proved to be highly disappointing.