Tourism in Slovakia

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Tourism in Slovakia is tourism of the European nation of Slovakia.

Contents 1 Tourism objects 2 Food and drinks 3 Objects on the UNESCO World Heritage List 4 History 5 Trivia 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Tourism objects

In terms of tourism, Slovakia is an up-and-coming European Union country. Tourism and food in Slovakia remains relatively cheap as compared to Western Europe, but prices are currently adapting very quickly to the continental market. Slovakia is particularly noted for its numerous mountain ski resorts, historic cities, caves, wooden churches, national parks and other natural features.

Some 40 percent of Slovakia is forested. Slovakia’s forests are home to brown bears, wolves, foxes, wild boars, rabbits, squirrels, weasels, and muskrats. Chamois and lynx can be seen in mountain areas. As one of few good heritages from the former Communist regime, Slovakia features an extraordinarily high percentage of national parks and other protected area spaces (see National Parks in Slovakia). There are hardly any mountain ranges and areas not under some form of protection.

One of Slovakia's main tourist attractions are the Tatra Mountains (see Tatra, High Tatras, Vysoké Tatry and Low Tatras for details), the highest part of the Carpathians. They feature many rare plant and animal species and offer numerous ski, mountain walking and mountaineering opportunities. The High Tatras have been a final candidate for the Winter Olympics several times.

Rivers and streams in the mountains of Slovakia are often used for rafting and other white-water based activities. Using boats, kayaks and canoes is also very popular in Slovakia (and the country has won many of its Olympic medals in these sports). The use of rafts has a very long tradition in Slovakia and especially rafts on the spectacular Dunajec river are very popular among tourists.

Slovakia has also become world known for its numerous mineral springs and spas, the most famous one being that of Piešťany. Slovakia's spas include:

• Balneological spas: Bojnice, Brusno, Dudince, Lúčky, Piešťany, Sklené Teplice, Sliač, Smrdáky, Trenčianske Teplice, Turčianske Teplice
• Climatic spas: Nový Smokovec, Štós, Štrbské Pleso, Tatranské Matliare, High Tatras
• Mixed spas: Bardejovské Kúpele, Číž, Nimnica, Rajecké Teplice and Vyšné Ružbachy

New water parks are mushrooming thorough the country (for example Tatralandia in Liptovský Mikuláš, Aquacity in Poprad, and Aquathermal in Senec).

Slovakia's karst areas offer an extremely high number of caves and their list is being expanded every year due to new discoveries. The number of caves per capita is the highest one or among the highest ones in Europe. Thirteen caves are open to the public, the longest one of which is 9 km long. Some of them have been proclaimed UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Among them, Ochtinská Aragonite Cave is one of three aragonite caves in the world.

Slovakia is reputed to be one of the countries with the highest number of fortified castles (most of which are unfortunately ruined) per capita in the world. In the Middle Ages, castles or at least forts were built in proximity of virtually every settlement. The best known castles are the Bojnice Castle (featuring in many international movies, especially fairy tales), Spiš Castle (the largest fortified castle in Europe, on the UNESCO list), Orava Castle, Bratislava Castle (some 4,000 years old) and the ruins of the Devín Castle. The Čachtice Castle used to be home of the world's most prolific female serial killer, the 'Bloody Lady', Elizabeth Báthory.

Due to Slovakia's central position in Europe and the country's past (part of the multicultural Kingdom of Hungary, of the Habsburg monarchy and of Czechoslovakia), most cities and towns are similar to the cities in the Czech Republic (such as Prague), Austria (such as Salzburg) or Hungary (such as Budapest) and are rather cosmopolitan. A historic center with at least one square has been preserved in almost every town in Slovakia. Large historic centers can be found especially in Bratislava, Košice, Banská Štiavnica, and Levoča. Some towns have their own castle (for example Kremnica, Bratislava, and Banská Štiavnica). Most town centers have been revamped in recent years.

Ancient stone churches can be found in virtually any village and town in Slovakia. Most of them are built in the Baroque style, but there are also many examples of fine Romanesque and Gothic architecture (for example in Banská Bystrica, Bardejov, and Spišská Kapitula). The St. James Church in Levoča (with the highest wood-carved altar in the world) and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Žehra (with precious medieval frescos) are UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Other highlight is the St. Martin's Concathedral in Bratislava, which served as the coronation church of the ancient Kingdom of Hungary. The oldest sacral buildings in Slovakia stem from the Great Moravian period (9th century).

Very precious – and expensive to maintain - structures are the complete wooden churches of northern and northern-eastern Slovakia. Most were built from the 15th century onwards by Catholics, Lutherans and members of eastern-rite churches.

Slovakia is also rich in songs, dances, folk art, folk costumes and folk architecture. Complete original historic villages however have been preserved only in some cases, such as in Čičmany, Vlkolínec (UNESCO site), Brhlovce, Špania Dolina, Osturňa, Podbiel, Stará Hora in Sebechleby, Plavecký Peter, Veľké Leváre and Ždiar.

The Dielo shops network sells works of Slovak artists and craftsmen. These shops are mostly found in larger towns. Typical souvenirs from Slovakia are dolls dressed in folk costumes, ceramic objects, crystal glass, carved wooden figures, črpáks (wooden pitcher), fujaras (a folk instrument on the UNESCO list) and valaškas (a decorated folk hatchet) and above all products made from corn husks and wire, notably human figures. Such typically Slovak souvernirs can be bought in the shopd of the state organisation ÚĽUV (Ústredie ľudovej umeleckej výroby - Center of Folk Art Production).

Shopping is possible in most towns and cities in large shopping malls, municipal markets, and small shops. Prices of imported products are generally the same as in the neighbouring countries, whereas prices of local products and services, especially food, are usually much lower.

[edit] Food and drinks

Slovakia is also known for its high quality wines and popular beer brands. The most popular wines are those from the Tokaj, Little Carpathians, Nitra, Topoľčany and Záhorie regions. Hubert is a highly rated Slovak sparkling wine brand and “Karpatské Brandy Špeciál” is a popular brandy. Demänovka and Horec are traditional herbal liqueurs. Other popular Slovak aperitifs include slivovica (plum brandy) and borovička (a liquor made of juniper berries). Some popular beer brands are Topvar, Zlatý Bažant, Šariš, Corgoň, Gemer and Martiner.

Cheese and cheese products (especially the famous bryndza, korbáčik, oštiepok, parenica, and tvaroh cheeses) are traditional Slovak specialties.

A very popular chocolate brand with a long tradition is called Figaro.

[edit] Objects on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Objects currently on the list:

• Banská Štiavnica (former major mining town)
• Bardejov (historic town)
• Spiš Castle (medieval fortified castle)
• Spišská Kapitula (medieval ecclesiastical town)
• Vlkolínec (folk architecture)
• Žehra (frescos in a medieval church)
• Caves in the Slovak Karst:
  • Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa
  • Jaskyňa Domica
  • Gombasecká jaskyňa
  • Jasovská jaskyňa
  • Ochtinská aragonitová jaskyňa

Proposed objects:

• Tokaj vineyard area
• Numerous wooden churches (see above)
• The Chatam Sofer memorial in Bratislava (remnants of an old Jewish cemetery, with graves of important rabbis)
• 14th to 15th century churches with medieval mural paintings in Gemer and Abov
• Limes Romanus objects in Rusovce and Iža (Roman Empire period)
• The fortress in Komárno (the first bastion fortress on the European mainland)
• The concept of a lentil-shaped ground plan of Košice’s historical centre
• The historical town of Levoča
• Carpathian wild forests (protected landscape which are an International Biosphere Reserve)
• Nature reserves of the High Tatras (Northern Slovakia), in particular the national park
• The limestone karst scenery of Slovakia
• The Danube natural and cultural area (a vast system of river tributaries)
• The mycological flora of Bukovské vrchy in north-eastern Slovakia (the largest complex of original beech and fir forests in Europe with many rare and endangered species of plants and animals)
• The geyser in Herľany, which discharges four thousand litres of water every 30 to 33 hours
• The historical sites of Great Moravia, notably Kopčany (the St Margita of Antiochia Church) and Ducové

[edit] History

Tourism in Slovakia began to develop in the mid-19th century when travellers started to visit the High Tatra and Low Tatra mountains. The first accommodation and catering facilities were built in the late 19th century and this development accelerated after 1918 with the creation of Czechoslovakia. The number of tourists grew steadily from 270,000 domestic and 45,000 foreign tourists in 1926 to 546,000 domestic and 82,000 foreign tourists in 1936. The development of the tourist industry slowed down during World War II. After the introduction of the Communist regime in 1948, Westeners were no longer welcomed in Czechoslovakia, which naturally caused material losses to the tourism industry. Tourism was controlled by the communist regime ideologically, politically and economically, and the regime failed to invest sufficiently in tourism facilities and infrastructures (with the exception of the High Tatra region). On the other hand, however, since most Czechoslovakian citizens were virtually prohibited from travelling abroad (especially to the West), the regime had to provide more recreational facilities for the population in its own country: In 1989 (at the end of the Communist regime), there were 988 accommodation facilities (389 hotels, 17 motels, 200 hostels, 82 camping sites, 130 cottage camps and other) with 145,822 beds in Slovakia. These were used by some 3.9 m tourists (956,702 from abroad). The biggest tourist centers included Bratislava, High Tatras, Košice, Banská Bystrica and Piešťany. The number of travel agencies (ČEDOK, Tatratour, Slovakotourist, Javorina etc.) was limited by the government.

After the fall of Communism in 1989, Slovakia's tourism industry began to adapt to the condition of market economy. The facilities were gradually privatised and new facilities have been built, also with the help of foreign capital. Dozens of new travel agencies have been established, and the number of tourist from abroad and income from tourism increased considerably. Passive tourism (Slovaks travelling abroad) increased as well – in the 1990s Slovaks travelled predominantly to the neighbouring countries and Croatia, and since the late 1990s the foreign destinations of Slovaks have shifted to major world tourist destinations (Egypt, France, Indonesia etc.).

In 2004 the country received 1,401,189 visitors from abroad.

[edit] Trivia

In 2006, the government of Slovakia formally protested against the film Hostel, stating that the film portrayed Slovakia as a dangerous country with police corruption, where tourists could easily be kidnapped and murdered [1]. The film, the government stated, damaged the image of Slovakia and could be harmful to the tourism industry [2]. See also City of Bratislava Mayor's Office's reaction.

[edit] See also

• Ski and winter sports in Slovakia
• List of national parks of Slovakia

[edit] External links

• Official website of the Slovak Tourist Board