In the heat of summer the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts have plenty of tourists despite the ongoing crisis and the grim projections of a decline in the tourist industry. Currently tourism turnover amounts to EUR 7.5 – 10 million a day, which is not bad at all, the Bulgarian Chamber of Tourism announced. It is likely that in 2010 tourism will account for 10% of the country’s GDP. In other words, this means revenues of more than EUR 3 billion on a yearly basis. The latter figure is slightly up the 2009 revenues, considered one of the most disastrous in the sector.
The 2010 summer tourist season had a false start. The ongoing rains and the low temperatures forced many holidaymakers to give up their holidays at the Black Sea in early summer. Thus, until the end of June, the hotels were only 10-15% full, which drove hoteliers to despair and fear of bankruptcy. It was not until mid-July that the resorts began crowding with tourists and, already in August, which is generally considered the peak of the summer season, there are hordes of them everywhere.
According to Tsvetan Tonchev, president of the Bulgarian Chamber of Tourism, if weather in September remained sunny and hot, the sector could make up for the initial losses and even end at profit. There has been an increase in the number of tourists from Russia, the former Soviet republics and the Scandinavian countries, and also, the Bulgarian tourists at the seaside have gone up by 15%. The good news is some of the Bulgarians who normally prefer spending their summer holidays abroad, in 2010 chose the Bulgarian seaside supporting thus the domestic economy.
The sector relies very much on the up-to-date facilities and the low prices of the all inclusive packages.
“We have managed to establish very good hotels and restaurants, as well as entertainment facilities,” Mr. Tonchev goes on to say. “We have improved the quality of the service, and we have more than 22% of the foreigners return to Bulgaria having previously been on holiday here, which only proves they are pleased with what we have to offer. Another interesting trend is the revival of the interest in some resorts, such as the small town of Obzor that had nothing in particular to offer a decade ago, and which now houses some 50 000 tourists, mostly young people attracted by the state-of-the-art hotels and the entertainment. In order to attract customers, the Bulgarian hotels dropped prices by 15-20%, and increased the prices of additional services.”
One of the obstacles in the way of development of the sector is the shadow economy, which accounts for nearly half of the businesses in the tourist sector. Hotel administrations do not report the actual number of guests, restaurants do not report their turnover, and taxes are avoided. “It is not natural that the state collects only EUR 6 million in tourist fees instead of the estimated EUR 30 million,” Tsvetan Tonchev argues. Thus, it is impossible to evaluate the real revenues from the sector, as well as the increase in the number of tourists, hotel attendance, etc. In fact the annual revenues will exceed the projected EUR 3 billion, but no one can tell for sure by how much.
The same holds true of the number of tourists on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It is likely that their number is greater than the official data. It is obvious that avoiding rules is one way of surviving in times of crisis. Despite the harsh business conditions however the Chamber of Tourism reported some development in the sector, which has proved yet again its ability to survive even in the most difficult of situations.
English version: Radostin Zhelev
