Ljubljana, Jan 26 (IANS): The number of foreign tourists visiting Slovenia in 2021 increased by 50.7 per cent year-on-year, the country's Statistical Office has reported.

In 2021, the country hosted 1.8 million foreign tourists, mostly from Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia and Serbia. In December 2021 alone, the number of foreign tourists was almost 19 times higher than in the same month of 2020, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of domestic tourists (54 per cent of all tourists) was up 17.4 per cent in the same period, the office said on Tuesday.

In 2021, the country logged nearly four million (foreign and domestic) tourist arrivals (31 per cent more than in the same period of 2020) and nearly 11.3 million overnights stays (up 22 per cent), the office added.

It attributed the increase to the country's relatively lax Covid-19 measures in 2021. In 2020, most hotels were closed for months to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Currently, hotels across Slovenia are open to those who have been fully vaccinated, have recently overcome Covid-19 or have tested negative. However, a blanket mask mandate is in force for indoor public spaces

Slovenia was badly hit by Covid-19, but its economy rebounded strongly in 2021 and the growth is expected to continue this year. The government expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by around 4.7 per cent this year. Growth was 6.5 per cent in 2020.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, tourism contributed 10.6 per cent to the country's GDP. This figure fell to 6.5 per cent in 2020, according to the Ministry of Economic Development.