The number of foreign tourists coming to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast this summer will plummet by more than 80%, Sega newspaper writes, basing its estimates on the dramatic drop in the number of charter flights from Europe landing in Varna and Bourgas on the Black Sea. Because of the pandemic a great many of the hotels in Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts remain closed during the second half of July, while those which are open are filled to no more than 30% of their capacity.

Because of the obligatory negative PCR tests required to cross the border around half a million Bulgarians are giving up their holiday in Greece. The Bulgarian Telegraph newspaper quotes Rumen Draganov, head of the Institute for Analyses and Assessments in Tourism as saying that around 670,000 go to Greece on vacation every year between May and October, but that this year their number is expected to be 150,000.