Bosnia and Herzegovina Records 1.56 Million Tourist Arrivals by September 2026

Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomed 1,565,678 tourist arrivals between January and September 2026, an increase of 0.9 percent compared with the same period of 2025, according to the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Overnight stays grew faster, rising 2.8 percent to 3,334,927.

Key facts

• Period covered: January to September 2026
• Tourist arrivals: 1,565,678, up 0.9 percent year on year
• Overnight stays: 3,334,927, up 2.8 percent
• Average stay: 2.1 overnight stays per arrival
• Most-used accommodation: hotels and similar establishments, 93.6 percent of overnight stays

Are domestic or foreign visitors driving the numbers?

The two groups moved in opposite directions in the first nine months of the year. Arrivals by domestic tourists rose 5.4 percent compared with the same period of 2025, while arrivals by foreign tourists fell 0.8 percent.

Domestic tourists recorded 983,996 overnight stays, up 6.3 percent, and accounted for 29.5 percent of the total. Foreign visitors accounted for 2,350,931 overnight stays, 1.4 percent more than a year earlier, making up 70.5 percent of all overnight stays.

Where do foreign visitors come from?

Croatian tourists generated the largest share of overnight stays among foreign visitors, at 13.7 percent. Serbia followed with 11.3 percent, then Turkey with 9.4 percent.

The next positions were held by Slovenia at 5.5 percent, Germany at 4.9 percent, Saudi Arabia at 4.2 percent, the United States at 3.9 percent and Poland at 3.4 percent. Italy accounted for 3 percent, France for 2.8 percent and China for 2.7 percent, while Austria and the United Kingdom each accounted for 2.6 percent.

Which visitors stay the longest?

Tourists from Qatar recorded the highest average length of stay, at 3.5 overnight stays per arrival. Visitors from Kuwait and Latvia averaged 3.4 overnight stays each, and those from Iceland 3.3.

Tourists from Egypt averaged 3.2 overnight stays per arrival. Visitors from Ireland, France and the United Arab Emirates each averaged 3.1 overnight stays.

Where do visitors stay?

Hotels and similar establishments accounted for 93.6 percent of all overnight stays during the period, by far the most popular form of accommodation. Across all visitors, the average stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 2.1 overnight stays per tourist arrival.

What this means for travellers

The figures show where visitors to Bosnia and Herzegovina tend to stay and for how long: the large majority book hotels and similar accommodation, and the average trip runs to just over two nights. Travellers comparing a first visit with longer regional trips may find the typical stay of about two nights a useful benchmark, and accommodation demand appears concentrated in hotels and similar establishments.

No entry or visa rule changes are included in the statistics published by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.