Tourism: 86% of trips by Bulgarians were within their own country
Eighty-six per cent of the tourism trips by Bulgarians in 2017 were within their own country, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said on June 27.
This was the sixth-highest rate in the EU of tourism trips by residents within their own country, Eurostat said.
Seventy-seven per cent of the trips by Bulgarians in the country were by car, 16 per cent by bus and just two per cent by train – the last-mentioned figure among the lowest in the EU.
The highest shares of trips of EU residents within their country (domestic trips) were observed in Romania (94 per cent), Spain (91 per cent), Portugal (89 per cent), Greece (88 per cent), France (87 per cent) and Bulgaria (86 per cent), Eurostat said.
On the other hand, the largest proportions of trips abroad (outbound trips) were registered for residents of Luxembourg (98 per cent), Belgium (80 per cent), Malta (68 per cent) and Slovenia (62 per cent)
Motor vehicles (private or rented cars) were the main means of transport for more two-thirds of all trips made in 12 countries, with the highest share for the residents of Slovenia (85 per cent of trips), Portugal (80 per cent), The Czech Republic (79 per cent), Spain and Bulgaria (both 77 per cent).
Cars were used for less than half of all trips in Luxembourg and Cyprus (both 48 per cent) and Ireland (49 per cent).
Aircraft were the main means of travel for tourists from Malta (63 per cent), far ahead of Cyprus (49 per cent), Ireland (43 per cent) and Luxembourg (42 per cent), while in six countries – Romania (three per cent), Bulgaria (five per cent), The Czech Republic (six per cent), Croatia and Slovenia (both eight per cent) the shares for air transport were less than 10 per cent.
The highest use of trains for tourism trips was in France (15 per cent) and Germany (14 per cent). At the other end of the scale were Greece and Slovenia (both one per cent), Bulgaria and Croatia (both two per cent).
Waterways were the main means of transport for 37 per cent of trips made by residents of Malta and 17 per cent of trips by residents of Greece, while in Romania and Croatia (both 19 per cent), Bulgaria (16 per cent) and Estonia (15 per cent) residents took buses for 15 per cent and more of their trips.
In 2017, EU residents made 1.3 billion trips with overnight stays that amounted to almost 6.4 billion nights. The average trip length was 5.1 nights. Compared with 2016, the number of tourism trips by EU residents increased by four per cent.
Three quarters (73 per cent) of all trips were spent within the country of residence (domestic trips), while about a quarter (27 per cent) were abroad (outbound trips), of which 21 per cent to other EU countries and six per cent to destinations outside the EU, Eurostat said.
(Photo of Bulgaria’s Rila Monastery: Raggatt2000)
