The number of the Russian tourists’ flow in Bulgaria decreased by 25%

According to the resort’s Tourism Chamber, the number of foreign tourists at the popular Bulgarian resort of Burgas declined last summer by 13,7%, the Russian tourists’ flow decreased by 25%. The number of tourists from Germany decreased even more noticeably - by 50%. “Almost 400 thousand foreign tourists visited the coast of the southern Black Sea in August, which is 25% less than in the same month last year. We believe that lowering of prices for tour packages in the middle of the season was a mistake, because more low-budget tourists came to Bulgaria ", Ivan Ivanov, the president of the chamber, said.

Experts connected the decline in tourist flow with competition from the Mediterranean countries - Turkey, Greece, and Tunisia. Ivanov also believes that if the state’s marketing policy on foreign source markets does not improve, in 2020 Bulgaria will host even fewer foreign tourists. According to the Russian FSB Border Service, in the first half of 2019, almost 123 000 Russian citizens visited Bulgaria with the purpose of tourism, but for the same period in 2018 their number was 135 400. At the same time, the tourist flow is decreasing for the period of four years. In the first half of 2016, 162 000 Russian tourists visited the country.