site.btaOver 1.8 Mln Tourist Registrations Made at Accommodation Establishments in June-July - Tourism Ministry Data

Between June 1 and July 25, the total number of tourist registrations at accommodation establishments in Bulgaria exceeded 1.8 million, the Tourism Ministry said. The domestic market was in the lead with over 990,000 registrations by Bulgarians, followed by Romanians with more than 260,000 registrations. Next comes Poland with 98,000, Germany with 70,000, Czechia with 56,000, the UK with 50,000, Israel with 33,000, and Moldova with over 29,000 registrations.

The Tourism Ministry expects the summer season to end at a level just over 80% of the results in 2019.

The war in Ukraine and the quick rise in COVID-19 cases, as well as the situation at Europe’s airports with cancelled flights, have had an unprecedented impact and continue to affect the tourism industry and transport across the globe, the Ministry said. Due to the combined effect of these negative factors, it is not completely ruled out to have a total growth of summer tourism below 10%. 

Despite these circumstances, the forecast is for a two-digit growth from many main foreign markets. A serious increase from last summer season is expected from markets such as the UK, Israel, Slovakia, and Norway. This summer season better results are expected from scheduled flights to seaside airports for markets such as Poland (38%), Czechia (44%), Germany (18%), Israel (a two-fold increase), and the UK (close to 4-fold increase) based on data as at July 27. The number of scheduled flights remains dynamic due to the impact of various factors, the Tourism Ministry specified.

The data show that the 2021 summer season was very strong for the domestic market. This summer, the opportunities for trips abroad have increased but still many Bulgarians choose to go on holiday in this country and the domestic market remains in the lead, the Ministry said.