Bulgaria Interest rises.

August 24, 2004
THE initially reported drop in the world tourism sector is not currently dampening interest for tourists in Bulgaria.

Those visiting Bulgaria are focussing mainly on the country’s cultural, spa, hunting, eco and alternative recreational tourism rather than just package all-inclusive tours to the Black Sea coast. There is a very large increase in the interest among tourists coming from places like Australia, the US, Japan and China as part of individual or family trips and the package seaside tourism seems to be less attractive today, according to a staff member at the National Information and Advertising Centre (www.bulgariatravel.org) launched in January last year.
She said that mountain, monastery visits, eco walks and tours are the most popular forms of tourism among foreigners she works with at the centre. She said that the visitors were of various ages, status and interests, but had in common an interest in the country’s historical heritage. These unofficial impressions appear to agree with the most recent data from the Economy Ministry. “Tourists in Bulgaria in July 2004 were 20 per cent more than a year earlier,” said Dimitar Handjinokolov, the Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism. If construction work at summer resorts stops by March 31 next summer, the first holidaymakers might be welcomed at the end of April. “Thus the tourist season may be made longer,” he said. However, construction work was not the sole obstacle to attracting more people to travel to ‘Destination Bulgaria’. The latest appeal for an additional financial subsidy from the Economy Ministry for promoting Bulgaria abroad highlighted another side of the issue, in particular the inadequate promotion of the country abroad. “The Economy Ministry has requested an additional two million to 2.5 million leva in national budget allocations for tourism advertising this year,” Hadjinikolov said. The money is needed for presentations on Bulgaria’s winter resorts and cultural and historical sites. Currently, some of the advertising is done through private initiatives, joint ventures and simply by the licensed Bulgarian tour operators (926) and tourist agents (430) as of November 2002. More than 400 000 Bulgarians - one in six employed people - are engaged in tourism directly or indirectly.
The tourism market in Bulgaria is worth $500 million, according to Hadjinikolov. The good news is that the advertising has already started, with Bulgaria being portrayed as a safe and affordable destination, comparatively new for some Western tourists. Cosmos, a leading tour operator in the UK, launched at the beginning of the summer season the first edition of its All Inclusive 2005 brochures, for the first time featuring Bulgaria.
The number of foreign tourist visits in the first seven months of the year was 20 per cent higher than last year’s figures for the same period, according to data released by the Economy Ministry on August 17. More than two million tourists arrived in the country as part of the recreational tourist groups and most of them, 32 per cent more than last year, were from European Union countries. “The European Union is the most important market for Bulgaria’s international tourism,” the Economy Ministry said. A total of 1 498 000 tourists who visited the country January-June last year came for recreation.
The largest number of tourists were from Greece (387 458) marking an increase of 50 per cent more tourists from Bulgaria’s neighbouring country and the Olympic host. Earlier in the summer season tour operators predicted an increase in transit travel via Bulgaria during the Olympics. The Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents said they expected a rise in the flow of Greek tourists to Bulgaria. The increase was not restricted to Greek tourists, but also tourists from Germany (293 004), the United Kingdom (149 299), and FYR Macedonia (122 732). Irish tourists marked a 110 percent increase in their visits to Bulgaria (7 214). The number of Portuguese travellers have risen by 100 per cent higher to 1549 tourists, albeit from a low base. However, the trend for Russian tourists has not increased, totalling no more than 73 829 for the first seven months of the year. Preliminary data provided by tour agencies, and the Economy Ministry’s analysis, show international tourism revenue for January-May to have reached 412.8 million euro, which is 30 per cent more than last year’s revenue.