More Than 7 Million Tourists Visited Bulgaria from January to September

More than 7 million tourists visited Bulgaria between January and September, Deputy Tourism Minister Mariela Modeva said in Veliko Tarnovo.

Between May and September, 5.7 million tourists were recorded in the country, of whom more than 3.5 million were foreign visitors.

Bulgaria has the potential to become a year-round tourist destination, and efforts should focus not only on increasing visitor numbers but also on improving the quality of the tourism product, Mariela Modeva said at the opening of the International Cultural Tourism Exhibition in Veliko Tarnovo.

Around a 1% increase in the number of visitors interested in cultural and historical tourism was recorded in 21 Bulgarian municipalities.

At European level, there has also been increased interest in cultural and historical tourism, with nearly 14% of tourists saying they travel for this purpose, while a similar proportion express an interest in city breaks.

Around 4% of tourists are interested in wine and culinary tourism. Together, these forms of tourism account for around 32% of the total.

Bulgaria still has no separate statistics for cultural tourism, which is therefore measured through visits to cultural and historical sites, municipalities with a concentration of cultural heritage and museums.

More than 7.9 million people have visited museums in Bulgaria. Bulgaria ranks third in Europe, after Italy and Greece, in terms of the number of immovable cultural heritage sites, with around 40,000, Modeva recalled.

The country has the potential to attract tourists throughout the year, with the way its history, culture and traditions are presented being of key importance.

“As a place where we can welcome tourists with a story about our history, culture and traditions, which are more than 8,000 years old,” Modeva stressed.

The main factors driving the development of the sector are connectivity, accessibility, the creation of new tourism products or presenting existing ones in new ways, as well as effective marketing and promotion in target markets.