German Visitors Warm to Slovakia's Mountainous Areas

Liptovsky Mikulas, February 3 (TASR) – Slovakia’s mountainous areas are increasingly popular among German visitors, TASR learnt on Friday.

“We’ve recorded a four-fold increase in the number of German visitors this winter season. The number of nights spent here is also on the rise, and they spend more than three days here on average,” said Jana Knavova, marketing manager of Slovakia’s largest ski resort Jasna Nizke Tatry in the Low Tatra mountains.

Petra Suhajdova of the Regional Tourism Association in northern Slovakia’s Liptov area said that German holidaymakers have discovered the area thanks both to the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Jasna last year and the presentation of the region and Slovakia as a whole at tourism fairs. “It’s not just about skiing, but about year-round activities, tourism, mountains,” said Suhajdova.

Liptov’s appeal has even caught the eye of German television broadcaster ZDF, which is currently making a travel documentary about the area. “I haven’t seen such gorgeous mountains as those in Slovakia before … the Demanovska Cave of Liberty is arrestingly big and beautiful,” said camera operator Felix. Some of the channel’s crew are planning to come back for more in the summer.

The Statistics Office has released visitor figures for Zilina region for the first nine months of 2016. The number of German visitors in the district of Ruzomberok (Zilina region) rose by 30.9 percent on the year and in Zilina region as a whole by 6.9 percent year-on-year.