Tourist overnight stays in Serbia reached 1 mln in February - gov't

BELGRADE - Overnight stays by local and foreign tourists in Serbia totalled 1 mln in February 2023, which is a cca 45 pct increase compared to February 2022, according to figures from eTourist, the central information system of the hospitality and tourism industry.

In a statement, the Serbian government said overnight stays generated by foreign tourists in February totalled 481,000, up by as much as 80 pct y-o-y.

Compared to the beginning of last year, the growth rate of tourism turnover generated by foreign tourists has resulted in an increase of the share of overnight stays by foreign tourists from 37 pct to 45 pct, the statement said.

The tourist destinations that registered the highest number of overnight stays in February 2023 are Belgrade, Mt Zlatibor, Mt Kopaonik, Novi Sad and Mt Divcibare.

Results from early 2023 inspire the hope that further growth of tourist turnover this year will be driven by an increase in the number of foreign visitors, contributing to further growth of foreign exchange revenues from tourism after the industry saw record-high revenues of 2.5 bln euros last year, the government also said.