Over 2 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Bulgaria in August. Nearly 3 million Bulgarians have booked their holidays in Bulgaria and abroad in August, the Director of the Institute for Analyses and Assessment in Tourism Rumen Draganov told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

The rainy summer in Bulgaria did not make the foreign tourists change their minds and cancel their holiday bookings. Most of them booked their holidays several months ago. That is why the plans for organized visits in Bulgaria have been completely fulfilled.

The Bulgarians who will go on holidays next month have not changed their holiday plans either. In other words, bad weather does not influence people’s decisions too much, Rumen Draganov went on to say.

The tourist flow from Russia to Bulgaria is dynamic and is mainly based on the number of real estate properties bought by Russian nationals along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The Russian owners of properties in Bulgaria are trying to keep them fully booked through the whole season, including August. The Russian nationals bought properties mainly in and near Sunny Beach and Pomorie resorts.

However, the number of organized trips of Russian tourists in Bulgaria decreased with nearly 15%, Rumen Draganov commented. This is so, because the Russians have shown bigger interest in holidays in Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia. These countries offer very attractive holiday packages and visa-free visits. Secondly, the incomes of the Russian nationals fell due to the fluctuations in the fuel prices. Recently, the price of fuels increased which may result in more Russian tourists in Bulgaria in August, expert Rumen Draganov commented.

We are not expecting any surprises in the number of visits from non-traditional tourist markets in August. Moreover, tourist markets such as Israel and Iran do not influence significantly the total tourist flow towards Bulgaria in August.

The Bulgarian tourists have not changed their holiday plans after the torrential rains which flooded Greece in the beginning of July and the devastating fires near the Greek capital that occurred several days ago, Rumen Draganov commented and reminded that the whole territory of Greece attracts the interest of Bulgarian tourists. However, it is important to take the weather into consideration. August is an extremely hot month in Greece. That is why we must follow the instructions and the advices of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local authorities in Greece, Rumen Draganov added.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov