Tourism Ministry expects tourist visits to Bulgaria this past winter to have risen 5%

Between December 1 2023 and March 25 2024, there were 1.8 million tourist registrations in Bulgaria, and the country’s Tourism Ministry expects that tourist visits will come in at five per cent higher than in the 2022/23 winter season.

In a statement on April 4, citing data from the Unified System for Tourist Information, the ministry said that in the December 2023 – March 25 2024 period, the largest number of tourist registrations were Bulgarians, 1.3 million.

This was followed by tourists from Romania, more than 62 000, from Greece, close to 57 000, from Türkiye, more than 53 000 and from the United Kingdom, 53 000.

The ministry said that 28 000 Italian tourists visited Bulgaria during that time, from North Macedonia more than 26 000, from Germany 23 000, from Israel nearly 21 000 and Serbia 19 000.

From the beginning of December 2023 until March 25, the preferred destination was the municipality of Sofia, which reported 323 000 tourists, followed by the municipalities of Bansko, Velingrad, Samokov, Smolyan, Chepelare and Varna.

Among municipalities with ski destinations, Bansko was the most visited, followed by Samokov (including Borovets), Smolyan and Chepelare.

The largest number of tourists were in the 30-44 age group, the ministry said.

Separately, on April 3 Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova said that tour operators were seeing a 70 per cent increase in early bookings of tourists from the UK for the upcoming summer season, and an increase of 20 per cent in early bookings from German tourists.

(Photo: Lance Nelson of Bansko App)

Please support The Sofia Globe’s independent journalism by becoming a subscriber to our page on Patreon:

Become a Patron!