Bulgaria received over 1.8 million tourists during the winter season, among them the most were from Turkey

For the period December 1, 2023 – March 25, 2024, the registrations of tourists in our country are over 1.8 million. According to NSI data for the period December 2023 – February 2024, the growth of Turkish tourists in our country is significant 29.1 % compared to the same period of the last winter season. Italian tourists, whose interest is mainly focused on urban tourism in Sofia, increased by 18.7%. We note a growth of 3% among Bulgarian tourists, tourists from S. Macedonia are 4.6 percent more. We also note growth in the German and Serbian markets, respectively 9.7% and 10.7%.

For the period December 2023 – February 2024, we note fewer tourists from Romania, Greece compared to the same period of the last winter season, but the most serious is the drop from Israel with 62.6%, reported MT.

From the beginning of December 2023 until March 25, 2024, the most preferred destination was the municipality of Stolichna, followed by the municipalities of Bansko, Velingrad, Samokov, Smolyan and Chepelare, as well as the municipality of Varna.

Among our ski resorts, Bansko is the most visited, followed by Samokov (including Borovets), Smolyan and Chepelare, with the highest number of Bulgarian tourists registering in the mentioned ski resorts.

Urban, cultural and business tourism are particularly important during the current winter season. A total of 7 municipalities – Stolichna, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse and Stara Zagora manage to attract nearly 35% of all tourists according to current data for the winter season. The share of trips to municipalities with well-developed ski resorts is over 19%. There is significant interest in 8 municipalities with developed spa tourism in the interior of the country, which manage to attract just over 19% of all tourists, and the remaining nearly 27% traveled to other destinations in the country.