Bulgarians Traveling Abroad increase in May: Turkey and Greece are the most Desirable Destinations

The trips of Bulgarian citizens abroad in May 2023 were 772.5 thousand, or 5.9% more than in the same month last year, announced the National Statistical Institute.

The biggest growth is in trips with the so-called "other purposes" (visiting, attending concerts and sports events, training, procedures). Vacations and excursions grew by 8%, while business trips decreased by 10%.

The largest number of trips by Bulgarian citizens were made to neighboring Turkey - 212.4 thousand, Greece - 183.3 thousand, Serbia - 54.2 thousand, Romania - 54.2 thousand. It is noticeable that the trips to Turkey and Greece are mainly for non-tourist reasons (the so-called "other purposes").

In May 2023, the number of foreign visitors to Bulgaria was 930.5 thousand, or 15.8% more compared to the same month of the previous year. An increase was registered for all observed goals - both visits, tourism and business trips. Transit crossings through the country are 36.5% (340.1 thousand) of all visits.

The most visits to Bulgaria were made by the citizens of:

• Romania - 185.9 thousand
• Turkey - 163.0 thousand
• Greece - 114.5 thousand
• Ukraine - 76.5 thousand

These numbers, however, also include transits.

Only 287,000 foreigners declared that they came to Bulgaria for tourism. The largest number of tourists are:

• Romanian (38.7 thousand people)
• followed by Greeks (38.2 thousand)
• Turks (36.5 thousand)
• Germans (31.1 thousand).