30% more bookings compared to last year at this time, revenue is up 50%. This is what the figures of the Institute for Analyzes and Evaluations in Tourism show, said the director of the department, Prof. Rumen Draganov. He presented more data: Between 4 and 8% is the average growth compared to 2019. 13 million people are expected to visit Bugaria in 2023. In the month of May, we had about 800,000 foreign visits, and now we expect to hit a million.
“If we end the year with about 13 million visitors entering the country in total, this will exceed 2019, when we had 12.5 million. In winter, there were many satisfied tourists, not only in winter and spa tourism, but also cultural tourism in urban historic environment and other types, visiting relatives and friends. We have an oversupply and surplus of accommodation and we are continuing to build them,” he pointed out.
Tour operator Zdravka Chimeva says that there are more and more people wishing to have a vacation in Blagoevgrad region, and there is an increase in demand and reservations. “For all those who work in tourism, this is a breath of fresh air after the pandemic. Tourists are flocking to Bansko, Dobrinishte, Sandanski, Banya, Ognyanovo, the mountain huts. The foreign interest is from Spain, they like Bulgaria very much. In Blagoevgrad there are so-called round trips,” she revealed.