More than 1.6 million people visited Slovakia in 2006, and the most attractive destinations are the capital of Bratislava and the High Tatras. Most visitors come from the Czech Republic (about 26%), Poland (15%) and Germany (11%).
Typical souvenirs from Slovakia are dolls dressed in folk costumes, ceramic objects, crystal glass, carved wooden figures, črpáks (wooden pitchers), 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.
Souvenirs can be bought in the shops run by the state organization ÚĽUV (Ústredie ľudovej umeleckej výroby – Center of Folk Art Production). Dielo shop chain sells works of Slovak artists and craftsmen. These shops are mostly found in towns and cities. Prices of imported products are generally the same as in the neighboring countries, whereas prices of local products and services, especially food, are usually lower.
Science
Some Slovaks have made notable technical contributions. Jozef Murgaš contributed to development of wireless telegraphy; Ján Bahýľ constructed the first motor-driven helicopter (four years before Bréguet and Cornu).; Štefan Banič constructed the first actively used parachute; Aurel Stodola created a bionic arm in 1916 and pioneered steam and gas turbines. More recently, John Dopyera constructed a resonator guitar, an important contribution to the development of acoustic string instrument.
American astronaut Eugene Cernan (Čerňan), the last man to visit the Moon, has Slovak heritage. Ivan Bella was the first Slovak citizen in space, having participated in a 9-day joint Russian-French-Slovak mission on the space station Mir in 1999.
Nobel Prize winners Daniel Gajdusek and David Politzer are of Slovak ancestry
