Visits to Bulgaria by foreign tourists up 5.5% in January – September 2018 – official

The number of visits to Bulgaria by foreign tourists in January to September 2018 was 5.5 per cent higher than in January – September 2017, the Tourism Ministry said, citing National Statistical Institute (NSI) data.

There were more than 7.9 million tourist visits by foreigners in the first nine months of 2018, the ministry said, quoting the NSI figures.

In June to September 2018, the number of visits by foreign tourists added up more than 5.4 million, about 3.1 per cent higher than in Bulgaria’s 2017 summer holiday season.

In September 2018 alone, there were 984 199 foreign tourists, an increase of 2.6 per cent compared with September 2017.

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said that the statistics confirmed her ministry’s forecasts of a growth in tourism “and our country’s international recognition as a competitive and recognizable destination for four seasons”.

It was particularly important that September was now part of the active summer season and an increasing number of tourists chose Bulgaria for their holidays.

The largest number of visits was from Romania, at 27.5 per cent higher than at the same time in 2017, followed by Greece and Germany.

The number of tourists visiting Bulgaria from the UK was almost 16 per cent higher, from Ukraine more than 26 per cent higher, from Israel 22.4 per cent, from the US 12.2 per cent, from Spain 17.6 per cent and Finland 16.8 per cent, the ministry said.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

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