First cruise ship arrives at Rousse for this year’s tourist season

A cruise ship docked at the quay of Bulgaria’s Rousse for the first time this year. This is an event for tour operators, because in previous years it would have been just another ship for the season.

Due to the COVID pandemic, only 24 cruise ships arrived in Rousse last year, although more than 500 visits were requested. Tour operators say they cannot predict how many more tourists will come to Rousse, but they hope to be more than last year, which was very difficult for them.

Until last year, only in winter there was no cruise tourism on the lower Danube, but in 2020 the season lasted only for 2 months. Due to the coronavirus, tourists cancelled their reservations, and many ports refused to accept cruise ships.

The Swiss-flagged ship Nestroy was the first to dock at the port of Rousse this year. It has a capacity of 230 passengers, but currently it arrived with only 70 people. They all are either vaccinated or with negative PCR test results. Many of them wanted to go on a voyage on this route last year.

"We had to postpone the trip because of the pandemic, but we have already been vaccinated and we decided we could travel," said Johanna Toych.

"We had booked a trip for June, then it was re-scheduled for September, then postponed. Fortunately, now we have the opportunity to make it. And I'm not sorry. Going through the Iron Gate was sensational for me," said Albin Alshmid.

From this ship alone, the local tour operator had 20 requests for visits last year and all were cancelled. This year there are also 20 applications.

"Will that happen or not - you see how things change quickly, for weeks, for months, so I can't be quite sure," Katerina Koleva, a representative of a tour operator, told BNT on June 28.

It all depends on whether there will be a new wave of coronavirus and on the decisions of each government. Tour operators hope that from July 1, when the digital COVID certificate becomes available to all European Union countries, there will be more tourists and more work for the tour operators this year.

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