Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents

Thousands of Bulgarians want to cancel their reservations to Egypt and Jordan. They fear unrest in the Middle East. The planned excursions by the end of the year are over 10,000.

Travel companies protest in front of the Presidency. This was announced by the association "Future for Tourism". They demand the resignation of the Minister of Tourism - Stella Baltova.

The reason is that about BGN 16 million have not been paid yet - state aid, which should compensate the losses of the companies in tourism from the pandemic.

The Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents insists on the resignation of Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova. Their reasons are lack of professional competence and administrative capacity to deal with the problems of Bulgarian tourism, reports WebCafe. 

Bulgaria will try to boost visitor numbers by offering combined tourism products including trips to neighboring Balkan countries.

Many Bulgarians will spend the long weekend including September 22, Bulgarian Independence Day, in one of the neighboring countries.

Every third tourist who will travel abroad for the holidays chooses to go to Greece, according to Bayko Bajkov, head of the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents (ABTTA), Standart news informs.

Some 15 000 – 20 000 Russians will not be able to spend their holidays in Bulgaria due to bankruptcies of Russian tour operators.

In an interview for Monitor daily, Bayko Baykov, Chair of the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents, argued that the decline was observable on all outbound markets for Russia without exception.

The 4.5-5.5% tourism growth planned for 2014 is currently implemented, Anelia Genova of Bulgaria's Ministry of Economy told the National Radio (BNR).

According to Genova, despite the heavy rainfalls and the crisis on some markets essential for the country, the tourist data for Bulgaria is quite optimistic.

Bulgaria's hospitality industry has recorded a recent 20% decline in the early bookings of tourists from Germany, Britain and the Scandinavian countries.

Bulgaria's tourist business does not expect significant influx of visitors for Easter, as traditionally, most Bulgarians prefer to spend the holiday at home.

The number of Ukrainian tourists in Bulgaria has doubled in the last four years, according to the Economy Ministry.