Another successful year in terms of tourism in Novi Sad is behind us, in which we have surpassed the results from the year in which our city was the holder of the title of European Capital of Culture with great engagement in numerous activities in the field of tourism development and promotion.
Check-ins and overnight stays
The year in which TONS celebrated its jubilee – 15 years since its founding – was marked by an increase in the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays. According to the data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia in the territory of the City of Novi Sad in the period January – December 2023, a total of 234,708 tourist arrivals were made, which represents an increase of 7.2% compared to the same period in 2022. Tourists came from as many as 180 countries, and the most numerous ones were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Germany, China, Romania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland.
According to the same source, in the period January – December 2023, a total of 567,926 overnight stays were realized, which represents a growth of 1.2%. The highest number of overnight stays was traditionally in July, when 59,000 overnight stays were recorded, followed by May with 58,000 and October with 53,000 overnight stays of tourists. April with close to 50,000 nights was also exceptionally good.
Foreign tourists have the largest share of overnight stays, with 408,891 overnight stays, which represents almost ¾ (three quarters), i.e. 72% of all overnight stays. In the last two years, there has been an accelerated growth in overnight stays of foreigners compared to the period before the pandemic. Compared to 2019, we now have 46% more overnight stays of tourists coming from abroad. This information is extremely important when we consider the foreign exchange inflow from tourism. Namely, according to the list published by the World Tourism Organization, Serbia ranked first in terms of growth in revenues from foreign tourists for the period from 2019 to 2023. The fact that Novi Sad is the second city by overnight stays of foreign tourists, as well as the above-mentioned growth, undoubtedly leads to the conclusion that the turnover from tourism achieved in our city greatly contributed to this success.
Info centers
Info centers of the Tourism Organization of the City of Novi Sad are mostly visited by those tourists who have come to Novi Sad for a day trip or are in transit. In 2023, there were a total of 7,570 of them from 73 countries, of which 6,322 were foreign tourists and 1,248 tourists from Serbia. Among foreigners, the most numerous were tourists from Russia, then Germany, Turkey, Spain, Great Britain, France, USA, Croatia, Italy, China. Most visits were in the summer months – August, July and June.
Passenger ships
Another important group of tourists visits Novi Sad as part of a cruise on the Danube. According to the Port Management Agency, 373 passenger ships docked at the passenger dock in Novi Sad in 2023, and 47,775 passengers disembarked. Most ships docked in May (62) when the most passengers disembarked (7,942). This is followed by June and July, with 60 ships docking and 7,754 and 7,208 passengers disembarking, respectively.
