Bulgaria to increase staff to issue visas to Russian and Ukrainian tourists
Bulgaria is to post additional staff to consular offices in Moscow, St Petersburg, Kyiv and Odessa to meet the expected growth in “last minute” bookings from Russia and Ukraine, Bulgaria’s Tourism Ministry said on May 9.
Additional officials are to be deployed to Bulgaria’s consular offices in Chisinau, Minsk, Tehran, Beirut, Astana, Tbilisi, Istanbul and Bursa.
To get the work done, a further 133 000 leva is being devoted from the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Tourism Ministry said.
The strengthened staff will ensure fast and problem-free services to tourist on package tours, as well as individual holiday makers, and also help encourage more bookings, the Tourism Ministry said.
The consular offices where more staff will be sent are in countries that are traditional markets of the Bulgarian tourist products or have a potential for development, the ministry said,.
The provision of consular services with additional staff is another step the Ministry of Tourism is taking to overcome the expected decline of Russian and Ukrainian tourists, the statement said.
(Photo: Leah Sawyer)
