After the lifting of the COVID-19 anti-epidemic restrictive measures, Bulgarians want to vacation abroad, travel on weekends to foreign cities and shop in neighboring countries. When abroad, Bulgarian travellers prefer to pay by card rather than by cash, show results of a Visa study on travel and payment preferences in 2022, which covers eight markets in Central and Eastern Europe - Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Czechia.
Fifty percent of Bulgarians said they prefer to pay with their cards or smart devices when travelling abroad. This trend developed during the pandemic when consumers turned to online shopping and contactless payments in stores, and now the established habits are reflected in payment preferences in other countries.
Bulgarian respondents expressed a desire to vacation (for more than 3 nights) abroad, with over 42% of respondents planning such vacations this year. This indicator is similar in the Czechia and Poland (41% and 40%, respectively) and higher among Slovenians (almost 62%) and Romanians (over 50%). Weekend getaways abroad are also quite popular, with this type of travel preferred by 38.5% of respondents in Bulgaria. Only Slovenians (44.1%) and Croats (41%) showed a more significant interest in this type of recreation.
The survey shows that approximately 42% of Bulgarians intend to go on vacation at least once this year. This also applies to people in Croatia (42%) and Slovenia (41%). Other Bulgarians who participated in the survey stated that they would go on vacation more often: two or three times (over 41%), four or five times (7%), more than five times (almost 4%). Over a third (nearly 40 percent) of Bulgarians tend to plan their vacation trips several months in advance, and nearly 25% plan them about a month in advance. Among the most preferred holiday travel destinations for Bulgarian citizens in 2022 are Greece (38.3%) and Italy (31.8%), followed by Turkey (31.3%).
Apart from regular vacations abroad, Bulgarians tend to recharge during short weekend trips (or so-called city breaks). The top 3 destinations for weekend trips that Bulgarians would like to visit this year include Istanbul (47.1%), Rome (23.7%) and London (18.6%). Nearly 47% intend to take 2 or 3 weekend trips, and 30% plan to do so once.
The data show that business trips are becoming less popular. Just over 8% of Bulgarians will travel for business reasons, with 28% planning to take 2 or 3 business trips this year, and 27.6% will take only one business trip. This could be considered as evidence that the new online platforms for meetings and communications have become more popular and to some extent take precedence over business travel, according to Visa.
The Visa survey shows that only 23% of Bulgarian respondents intend to go to a neighboring country to shop, but of those planning this type of trip, 40.8% will do it 2 or 3 times, while 23% will only go once. Bulgarians prefer shopping in Turkey (80.3%), Greece (34%) and Romania (21.1%). Almost 9.7% of the respondents do not plan such trips in advance.
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