Bulgaria Regains its Position on German Tourism Market

SofiaEcho, 19 Sept. 2007

After Bulgaria had lost large number of German tourists that visited the Black Sea resorts in the past two to three years the number of bookings increased again in the 2007 summer season.

Representatives of the large tour operators that bring German tourists to Bulgaria said that the number of bookings made by Germans is expected to reach 350 000 to 400 000 which is a slight increase compared to 2006, Dnevnik daily reported.

Tour operators said that the German tourism market had come out of the crisis and had started to stabilise. The market was specific and predictable because of the large number of early bookings, Kalin Soutev, representative of ITS Bulgaria said.

TUI tour operator said it expected for 2007 an increase in booking from German tourists by nearly ten per cent compared to 2006.

UK market results in 2007 were lower for destinations near Varna, while the German market saw a steady increase in both the southern and northern Bulgarian Black Sea resorts.

Tour operators said that despite the growth of the German tourism market, the number of German tourists would not reach the figures from four seasons ago when 500 000 German tourists visited the country in one summer.