The Bulgarian authorities have changed the rules for issuing tourist visas to Russians. Two more mandatory items have been added to the list of documents.

According to tour operators, the Bulgarian Consulate in Moscow informed them of the temporary suspension of the acceptance of documents for tourist visas due to the current emergency situation.

The Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria reported an almost 4-fold increase of tourist flow from Russia in January-May 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

In connection with the growing interest in foreign holiday, Solvex company opens sales of tours to Bulgarian resorts with a flight through Yerevan. The program starts on July 4 and continues until the end of August.

Russia and Bulgaria will continue close cooperation in the field of tourism. The Bulgarian side is interested in the soonest restoration of the tourist flow from Russia. As of October 2021, about 36 thousand Russian tourists stayed at Bulgarian hotels for vacation, of which 85% - in the summer season.

The first ski tours to Bulgaria appeared on the sale of tour operators. Thus, tour operators Intourist, Anex Tour, Tez Tour, Ics Travel Group, Russian Express and Tui Russia offer a winter product on Aeroflot and Bulgaria Air flights from Moscow to Sofia.

It has become easier for Russian tourists to enter Bulgaria. The requirement for a mandatory PCR test for tourists vaccinated with Sputnik V has been canceled.

The rules of entry to the countries of the Balkan Peninsula for Russian tourists, who have been vaccinated against coronavirus with the domestic drug "Sputnik V", have been published. Most of the states located in this region of Europe have established loyal conditions for Russian travelers.

Bulgaria announced the conditions of entry for citizens of the Russian Federation from May 1. Russians vaccinated by Sputnik V will not have to present PCR tests for COVID-19 upon arrival in the country.

The range of countries where a tourist can go from April to June is significantly limited and there are few alternatives in terms of price / service ratio as in Turkey.

Flights and tourist traffic from Russia amidst pandemic (weekly update)

Since May 1, Russian tourists will be able to freely enter Bulgaria and they will not need to undergo quarantine.

Airports on the Black Sea and Sofia airport are ready to receive guests and have taken a number of measures to combat COVID-19. Only in the period from May to October in airports of Varna and Burgas it is planned to receive about 1 000 flights from Russia.

The Bulgarian authorities are ready to restore foreign tourist flow and conclude bilateral agreements to create "green tourist corridors" with a number of key countries for Bulgarian tourism.

Bulgaria is already preparing to meet Russian tourists in the 2021 season.

Bulgaria hopes to resume flights with the Russian Federation and begin receiving Russian tourists by the end of the year.

Citizens of the Russian Federation who legally used Bulgarian visas in previous years and did not violate the terms of stay will be able to obtain multiple-entry visas for up to two years.

The current coronavirus situation in Bulgaria with a peak of 330 new cases per day at the end of July will likely leave it closed to Russian tourists.

Bulgaria has clarified the latest changes in the rules for foreigners. The innovations do not concern Russian tourists. From July 16, Bulgaria is ready to allow visiting the country only for certain categories of citizens of the Russian Federation.

Bulgarian resorts are asking the authorities to speed up the arrival of tourists from Russia. The Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria, in turn, promises not to delay the provision of subsidies for charters and solve the problem as quickly as possible.

Bulgaria has approved a list of countries, tourists from which can enter the state from June 1. For the first time for many years, Bulgarian resorts will open the season without Russian tourists.

Tez Tour has opened the sale of tours on the company's website for the next year in such destinations as Turkey, Greece, Spain and Cyprus. In the near future, the tour operator plans to open sales of tours to Bulgaria and Italy.

The opening of resorts in Bulgaria can be expected from July 1, but the exact date depends on the development of the epidemiological situation.

In order to quickly restore tourist flow from Russia, European countries thought about easing the visa regime. The most active in this matter are the European countries, which GDP largely depends on the tourism sector.

The Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria supports the abolition of visas for citizens of Russia and Turkey.