Bulgaria's National Statistics
Institute has calculated how many tourists entered the country from January to
August 2011. In
eight months Bulgaria
was visited by four million people. This is a 5% increase. The country’s
profits from tourism grew relatively by the same figure, reaching nearly two
billion euros. The biggest growth was seen on the Russian, Ukrainian and
Central European markets.
The
Ministry of the Economy and Tourism explains, the high dynamic is a result of Bulgaria’s
promotion on international markets and the political turbulence in many Arab
states, which affected the tourists’ plans. Experts say, because of this, Bulgaria’s
popularity grew even on those markets, which traditionally aren’t very
interested in the country.
According
to Bulgaria’s leading tour
companies and hotels, this summer can very well be called record setting – the
amount of tourists grew by 15%, while the biggest increase was seen among
visitors from Russia, Germany and Ukraine. Bulgaria’s press stresses,
these figures are especially valuable, given the fact that the season was
darkened by several unpleasant incidents, including the food poisoning of
Russian children at the Kiten camp, the complaints from Dutch tourists that the
charges for medical services were uprated, the tragic death of a 13-year-old
German girl in a swimming pool and, finally, the serious problems of Russian
and Finnish tourists, due to a conflict between Bulgaria Air carrier and Alma
Tour operator.
According
to Burgas and Varna airports, this year the
amount of Russian tourists (290 000) for the first time exceeded the amount of
visitors from Germany
(242 000). Experts say, this is no coincidence and the tendency is set to
continue throughout the year. The summer also saw a large increase of tourists
from Poland and the Czech Republic
(+20%) while British and Scandinavian markets showed last year’s figures.
Bulgarian
tour operators are also hoping for a good winter season. Forecasts predict the
tourist flow’s growth should be around 7%. It could be even larger in
Pamporovo, since the demand for this resort is especially high. It’s expected
that Greece should provide
significant gains - its tourists usually like spending the Christmas holidays
in Bulgaria, so do visitors
from Russia
and Central European states. A growth of bookings of ski resorts and spa-hotels
on these markets has already been spotted.
