New figures show Covid-19 impact on Bulgarian tourism in Q2 2020
Against the background of Bulgaria’s State of Emergency and subsequent epidemic declaration because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a huge drop in tourist trips by Bulgarians in the second quarter of 2020, shown by figures released on August 21 by the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
Compared with Q2 2019, the number of Bulgarians who travelled dropped by 63.3 per cent, the NSI said.
The number of Bulgarians who travelled within the country dropped by more than 55 per cent – a figure that comes in the context of intercity travel restrictions that were in effect for part of the period covered by the statistics – while the number of Bulgarians who travelled abroad was down by close to 87 per cent.
The period covered by these statistics is April to June. Intercity travel restrictions in Bulgaria were lifted on May 5.
Bulgarians in the 25-44 age group made up more than 45 per cent of those who travelled while the 15-24 age group accounted for close to 10 per cent.
According to the NSI, in the second quarter of 2020, no Bulgarian over the age of 65 travelled abroad.
The NSI said of the trips in Bulgaria in Q2 2020, 44.5 per cent were for holiday and recreation and 44 per cent to visit relatives.
(Photo: Jeff Hire/sxc.hu)
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