Minister Miloshev: around 10% increase in tourists is expected during the summer season in Bulgaria

Since the beginning of the year, for the first three months, according to data from the European Tourist Commission, Bulgaria is in second place in terms of recovery compared to 2019. According to data from the European Tourist Commission for the first three months of 2024, Bulgaria is at the forefront of the growth of tourists in Europe compared to 2019 - a growth of 39% compared to the first three months of 2019, the Ministry of Tourism announced yesterday.

Minister Evtim Miloshev noted that in organized tourism, where changes in the schedules are made in advance, taking into account the weather, they are not good, because the huge flow of foreign tourists who will come were organized already in the spring, and the large registrations started as early as last year . "If we have a difficult start in terms of weather, and after the end of the season we have bonus sunny months, this will not be very good for organized tourism, which is prevalent in our country," he added.

The lack of staff is forcing tourism employers to promise at least 20 percent higher pay compared to last summer. Miloshev called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send additional employees to our consular services in the countries of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, from where there are currently many candidates for jobs in our tourism. It is about the countries of Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan. Currently, requests for visa appointments are several months in advance, and employers want those employees now, he said.

Minister Miloshev informed that this year 23 beaches along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have received a "blue flag", which is a world standard for cleanliness. The regional governors of Varna and Burgas have a commitment to choose the rescue teams on beaches that are not leased or under concession, he added.