In March 2020, the trips of Bulgarian citizens abroad and visits of foreigners to Bulgaria registered a decline due to the suspension of international flights and the closure of the land borders because of the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the National Statistical Institute said in a press release.
In March 2020, Bulgarian residents made 230.7 thousand trips abroad or by 51.8% under those registered in March 2019. Compared to March 2019, the total number of trips of Bulgarians to all observed countries registered a drop, and most significantly to: Italy – by 96.3%, Spain – by 79.9%, Serbia – by 55.9%, Germany – by 55.4%, the United Kingdom – by 53.1%, Greece – by 53.0%, Republic of North Macedonia – by 52.0%.
In March 2020, most trips of Bulgarian citizens were made to: Turkey – 71.1 thousand, Greece – 34.0 thousand, Romania – 20.5 thousand, Serbia – 19.1 thousand, Republic of North Macedonia – 13.1 thousand, Germany – 10.9 thousand, Austria – 8.4 thousand, France – 8.3 thousand, the United Kingdom – 6.6 thousand, Belgium – 5.9 thousand.
March 2020, the number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria was 312.8 thousand or by 43.7% less in comparison with March 2019.
The share of visits of ЕU citizens was 49.7% of the total number of foreigners’ visits to Bulgaria in March 2020 or by 42.0% less in comparison with the same month of the previous year. A decline was registered in the visits from all observed countries, with the highest from: Germany – by 55.8%, France – by 54.6%, the United Kingdom – by 45.7%, Greece – by 36.2%, Romania – by 34.6%, and etc.
The visits of foreigners in the group ‘Other European countries’ decreased by 42.2%, and the highest decrease was observed in the visits of citizens of Republic of North Macedonia – by 55.8%.
In March 2020, the most visits to Bulgaria were from: Turkey – 62.5 thousand, Romania – 54.5 thousand, Greece – 49.6 thousand, Serbia – 26.3 thousand, Republic of North Macedonia – 21.8 thousand, the United Kingdom – 15.2 thousand, Ukraine – 11.8 thousand, Poland – 7.6 thousand, Germany – 7.0 thousand, Russian federation – 5.1 thousand.