Number of domestic guests in Sokobanja lower by one third, on Zlatibor and Fruska Gora higher by as much, but foreign ones – What are the statistics in local tourism?

According to the latest reports that are regularly published by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, there are increasingly more tourists in the country, but foreign ones. Among the domestic ones, the numbers are getting lower and lower, and the number of foreign tourists keeps growing.

According to the most recently published data of the Statistical Office, for the period January-October 2024, a total of 3,782,540 tourists visited Serbia, which is 5% more compared to the period January-October 2023, of which the number of domestic guests was 1,752,249 (2% less compared to 2023), or 46% of the total number of guests, whereas the number of foreign guests was 2,030,291 (+12%), which is 54% of the total number of guests.

Spas are once again recording a drop in the number of domestic tourists, this time by 11% compared to the same period in 2023, but on the other hand, there are more visits by foreign tourists – 12% more than last year. Guests from abroad also visit Serbian mountain more, by as much as 35%, although at the mountain centers, there is also an increase in the number of domestic guests – by 3%.

Also, the Statistical Office recorded a jump in the number of overnight stays in the period between January and October this year, although, to be fair, only 1%, but that increase is also a result of the arrival of foreign guests (+9%), because a drop of 5% was recorded when it comes to domestic guests.

– In the period January-October 2024, a total of 10,913,672 overnight stays were realized (which is 1% more compared to the period January-October 2023), of which domestic tourists realized 5,756,097 overnight stays (5% less), which comprises 53% of the total number of the realized overnight stays, and foreign ones realized 5,157,575 (+9%), or 47% of the total number of realized overnight stays – the Tourism Organization of Serbia published parts of the report of the Statistical Office on its website.

Of the selected tourism places, measured by the number of realized overnight stays, according to this announcement, local tourists, in the period January-October 2024, mostly stayed on Zlatibor (763,062 overnight stays, which is 4% more compared to the period January-October last year), followed by Vrnjacka Banja, Sokobanja, Kopaonik, Belgrade etc.

Sokobanja, Vrnjacka Banja, Tara and Divcibare are recording a drop in overnight stays when it comes to domestic tourists, by as much as 28% in Sokobanja, 14% in Vrnjacka Banja, 7% on Tara and 3% in Divcibare. However, domestic tourists recorded an increase in overnight stays in Nis, Kursumlija and Belgrade.

As for foreign guests, measured by the number of realized overnight stays, in the period January-October 2024, they mostly stayed in Belgrade (2,675,845 overnight stays, which is 8% more compared to the same period of 2023), followed by Novi Sad, Zlatibor, Nis, Subotica etc.

Among foreign tourists, when it comes to overnight stays, there is an increasing interest in Zlatibor (+35%), Fruska Gora (+30%), Banja Vrdnik (+28%), Vrnjacka Banja (+13%), and, as is standard, in Belgrade and Novi Sad.

– Of the foreign countries, the majority of overnight stays in the period January-October 2024 were realized by tourists from Russia, with 534,872 overnight stays, which is 5% lower compared to the period January-October 2023, followed by tourists from Turkey, China, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany etc. – it is said.

Observed by countries, the biggest increase is recorded when it comes to tourists from China (+40%), Bulgaria (+28%) and Turkey (+16%).

As for the data for October only, in Serbia, this October, the number of tourist arrivals is higher by 1.9%, and the number of overnight stays is lower by 3.5%. Also, the number of overnight stays of domestic tourists is lower by 14.6%, and the number of overnight stays of foreign tourists is higher by 9.7%. The full data for October (in Serbian) can be viewed HERE.

Republički zavod za statistiku Beograd

Turistička organizacija Srbije Beograd

tourist statistics

number of overnight stays

number of tourists

foreign tourists

local tourists