Foreign tourism to rise 8.2% in Bulgaria this year
Bulgaria expects to welcome nearly 6 million foreign visitors this year, an 8.2% rise on last year's number, the Institute for Analyses and Assessments in Tourism forecasts.
With freedom of movement from all European Union countries into Bulgaria since the start of the year, the expected upsurge in foreign visitors is not surprising, especially considering the Black Sea coastline's sandy beaches.
According to the institute, the 5.6 million foreign visitors will be attracted to the country for a variety of reasons. Over 1.6 million will spend their summer holidays there, 178,000 will be attracted by spas, 220,000 by health tourism and nearly 2,000 will visit on business, the Sofia Echo reports.
There will also be increasing movement by Bulgarian nationals; domestic trips by Bulgarians will total nearly 15 million, driving the demand for accommodation.
An increasing number of Bulgarians are already capitalising on their ability to visit EU neighbours, with many thousands already visiting nearby countries such as Romania this year. Correspondingly, Bulgaria is receiving greater numbers of visitors from other countries in south-east Europe.
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