This winter season saw 23% more tourists in Bulgaria than the record values before the pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism press service reported. This year also saw some 1.5 million bookings, or a 20% increase compared to the previous year.
The figures compiled in the Unified Tourist Information System (UTIS) over the previous months suggest that Bulgarian tourism has recovered from the crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak and can expect further growth.
The winter season ended with nearly 1,950,000 bookings and a surprisingly high growth of 23% compared to the 2019/2020 pre-COVID winter season, according to data that covers the December 1, 2022, – April 15, 2023, period. The reason for the record growth was the extended season. The 2019-2020 winter season ended on March 13, 2020, due to the then announced lockdown, but even under normal circumstances, the end of the season traditionally occurs shortly after mid-March.
The Ministry of Tourism estimated that the total number of tourists in Bulgaria over the Easter holidays exceeded 300,000, with revenues from them expected to exceed BGN 150 million. Around 65% of those tourists were from Bulgaria, and the other 35% were foreigners, mostly from Bulgaria’s neighbouring countries, as well as Israel and Germany.
The most popular destinations between April 13 and 18, 2023, boasting more than 30% of the total number of trips, offered religious and cultural tourism. Those destinations included Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, Troyan, Ruse, Tryavna.
Over the same period, some 27% of all tourists chose to spend their time on the Black Sea coast, mostly in Varna, Nesebar, Balchik, Burgas, Pomorie.
Spa tourism was the third most popular option, with some 19% of tourists visiting one of the country’s eight biggest spa resorts.
Revenues from inbound tourism for the December 2022 – February 2023 period are BGN 915 million, according to calculations based data from the Bulgarian National Bank. The growth of inbound tourism revenues this winter season compared to the same period of the 2021/2022 winter season is 38%.
Some 200,000 people are employed in the tourism sector and at least double that are engaged indirectly, caretaker Minister of Tourism Ilin Dimitrov said on Friday at a meeting with the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association.
