Results of the summer tourist season in Bulgaria
This summer 4.6% more of foreign tourists visited Bulgaria compared to the same period of 2011, say official data, published by the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism.
The crisis in neighbouring Greece and the unstable situation in popular North African resorts contributed to the growth of vacationers on Bulgarian Black Sea beaches.
Judging by the ministry’s data, last summer wasn’t much different from the summer of 2011. Experts believe that it is a sign of fixing Bulgaria’s position as an attractive seaside resort.
About 3.3 mln foreigners visited the country as tourists in June, July and August. The predominant part of the guests chose to stay at the Black Sea resorts.
According to Eurostat experts, in June in Bulgaria they marked the highest degree of hotels’ occupancy throughout all EU member states - about 90%.
Past summer was marked by outflow of tourists from Western Europe and a record increase in the number of tourists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The largest increase of visitors was from Belarus (106%), followed by Ukrainians (51%), and Russians (34%). One reason for the growth was the simplification of visa formalities.
Statistics show a decline by 7.8% in the number of German tourists, to whom Bulgaria is the traditional tourist market. The number of tourists from the UK has dropped by approximately the same percentage, though before 2008 they were among the most numerous foreign admirers of Bulgarian resorts. These data are most probably the result of the economic crisis.
English translation by BSN
Adapted from AboutVARNA.ru
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