LJUBLJANA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign tourists visiting Slovenia in October was four times higher than in the same month last year, the country's statistical office reported on Thursday.

The figure reached 161,470 this October, it said, adding that most foreign tourists arrived from Austria, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Serbia and Hungary. The number of foreign tourists in the first ten months of the year rose by 39 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic tourists, which accounted for about 64 percent of all tourists in October, more than doubled compared to the same month in 2020. Last year tourism was hampered by general lockdowns in Slovenia and many other European Union states.

"Most tourist overnight stays in October 2021 were recorded in health (spa) resorts, followed by seaside resorts and mountain resorts," the office said.

Slovenian tourism has been badly hit by the COVID-19 epidemic, which prompted the government to issue tourist vouchers for domestic citizens in an attempt to boost tourism. Although the number of new COVID-19 infections has spiked this autumn, the government has not imposed another lockdown, saying it would be too damaging to the economy.

As a result people who have been vaccinated, have recently overcome COVID-19 or tested negative for the disease were able to use tourist facilities in the country. The government continues to appeal to citizens to get vaccinated, since only about 54 percent of Slovenia's 2.1-million-population has so far been fully vaccinated.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, tourism represented about 10.6 percent of the country's GDP, but this fell to 6.5 percent in 2020, according to the Ministry of the Economy. However, the ministry has said it expects that income from foreign tourists will return to 2019 levels by 2024.