Bulgaria: Summer Season Kicked off at Sunny Beach, Only 20 Percent of Hotels Welcome Guests

Bulgaria's largest summer resort Sunny Beach today officially starts off the summer season with about 20% open hotels. Most of the hotels in the resort are expected to open doors in the coming days.

The prices of beach accessories are cut by half - BGN 5 for an umbrella and sunbed, and parking in the blue zone costs BGN 2 per hour. The resort, which is usually swarming with Western tourists, now relies mainly on Bulgarians and Romanians.

The first tourists expected in the resort are Romanians and Poles. "On June 15, we expect the first charter from the Netherlands and on 17 June another one from Belgium. Although only 20% of hotels are now open, this summer we hope to open most of the hotels in Sunny Beach," said Theodor Pastarmadzhiev, member of the Management Board of the Union of Hotel Owners in the resort.

The tourism industry is pushing for easing the entry regulations for tourists from other countries and signing of bilateral protocols for dropping PCR tests.

As of today, the safety protocols for Covid-19 that are necessary for the trouble-free summer tourist season 2021 come into effect in the resort.

Access control, for which nine checkpoints were set up as well as mobile patrols start operating. Parking in a blue zone in the resort complex will also cost BGN 2 per hour. This year, parking places in a blue zone have been increased to 1,100, with 100 new places now available, BGNES reported.