Bulgaria reports record number of tourists in 2018

Nearly 9 million and 300 thousand foreign tourists visited Bulgaria last year, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Tourism said on 21^st of February. According to experts, sustainable growth has been registered in the recent three years.

The good price / quality ratio is the successful formula that the tourism industry has set in recent years, the experts say.

Prof. Stoyan Marinov, Varna Chamber of Tourism: Revenues are also record high. It is about 3 billion and 600 million euros. However, it would be good to be a record from revenue per visitor. It varies between 380 and 400 euros per visitor, while in Turkey it ranks between 550 and 600 euros.

The largest number of tourists come from neighbouring Romania. It is good for Romanians to go on holiday in Bulgaria, especially because we are a close destination and their transport is cheap. However, wealthy Russian tourists have cut their costs when they stay in Bulgaria..

Hoteliers report growth in Asian tourists. They, as well as Western European holidaymakers, choose excursions related to cultural and archeological sights. The popularity of Bulgarian wine around the world also attracts tourists.

Pavlin Kossev, Hotelier: The French are great connoisseurs of wine. They prefer such excursions to visit Bulgarian wineries..

Visits from Turkey have also increased. Our southern neighbours visit the Northern Black Sea coast for the purpose of gambling tourism all year round.

Data from the Ministry of Tourism indicates a growth of visitors from Poland, Serbia and the UK between 7 and 15 percent.