The unresolved issues that have been accumulating for years and left unheeded by the government are the reason for this year’s extremely weak tourist season. In late August, pessimism pervades the sector as people talk about bankruptcies of hotels and tour operators. In the opinion of Dimitar Popov from the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agencies (ABTTA), the reason lies in the decline of tourists from Bulgaria’s main markets - Germany, Scandinavia, Russia. And statements in the public domain for compensation (by redirecting tourists with reservations canceled after the tragic incident in Tunisia), proved untenable.

The ticking bomb was set 20 years ago when the overdevelopment of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast started, leading to oversupply and price declines on the Black Sea coast. The main blame lies with the municipal authorities which legalized and encouraged reckless investments and also with the lack of state policy both in the tourism sector and in construction.

Over time, other problems arose, including the concessions on the beach, which in this country is state, not municipal property and the decisions for granting it are taken by the Council of Ministers or the Ministry of Regional Development (which next year will be replaced by the Ministry of Tourism.

According to Dimitar Popov, one of the main reasons for the outflow first of Bulgarian and then foreign tourists are namely the overcrowded and expensive beaches:

"Sunny Beach is designed for 40 thousand beds and some 7-8 square meters of beach per tourist. However, the number of beds at the resort now is more than 500,000 and no one wants to commit to a precise figure. With such disparity, the problem with the beach cannot be solved. It can be lightened if its management is entrusted to municipalities (as is the practice in most EU countries) but the problem is unsolvable."

On the one hand, via the granting of beaches under concession or rental by companies outside the tourism sector, the state violates the market interests of hoteliers, whose clients complain of high fees for the use of sand. On the other hand, by turning a blind eye to the problem and by allowing for accommodation not to be recorded in real time but only at the end of the month, the authorities allow hoteliers to hide turnovers. For 2014 in the region of Sunny Beach about 2 million nights have been recorded, meaning an average of four nights per bed. This, of course, is impossibly low. The mutual outwitting can no longer save the floundering Bulgarian tourism.

"Forecasts for bankruptcies of hotels on the southern Black Sea coast are real," Popov says. "Naturally, by having a downturn and poor economic indicators, this danger is increased not only for hoteliers, but also for tour operators dealing with inbound tourism. The main problem is that Bulgaria has the lowest indicators in terms of annual employment and average income per night. According to NSI, the accommodation capacity is 260 thousand beds, while its usage is more than 30%, but if we consider the entire amount of facilities, which also includes apartment buildings, guest houses and private rooms, the average occupancy is no more than 20%. Just for comparison in the EU last year it was 62% and in the US - 80%."

The current government decided to set up a ministry of tourism. This is laudable, but insufficient. The failure of the 2015 tourist season could be predicted as the flow of tourists in the most part is organized: going through tour operators and involves planning and predictability. Dimitar Popov was positive:

"By the end of September the 2016 season is being negotiated if the experts from the Ministry of Tourism at all bother to contact the major tour operators - European, Russian, etc. they will know what is planned as a charter program by the end of next year. They will be able to make a comparison with the tourist flow this year. The report is very easy but can be done only by the Ministry, not the sector. Not to mention that no surveys among tourists have been made for years, for example regarding Romanian tourists – do they spend their summer vacation here or only cross Bulgaria on their way to other countries, how much money they spend on the average, etc.”

The question is - will the Bulgarian tourist sector say goodbye to tourists or will it be able to overcome the current hardships?

English Rossitsa Petcova