Bulgarians Go For Home Resorts for May Holidays

Sofia News Agency

The majority of the Bulgarians going on a vacation during the May holidays have preferred the home sea and mountain resorts to foreign destinations.

According to preliminary data of the Bulgarian Association of Tourist Agencies, 70% of those using the four days off around May 6 have decided to say in Bulgarian, and only 30% have headed abroad. In comparison, in 2009, only about 40% of the Bulgarian tourists taking the chance to travel in May stayed in the country.

One of the top Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, Albena, has about 2 000 holidaymakers at the beginning of May, with half of them coming from Bulgaria, the bTV channel reported.

In addition to the sea resorts, where all hotels that were opened for Easter in April, are in business for the May holidays, many had chosen spa and wellness programs at mountain spots such as Sandanski, Hisarya, Velingrad, Kyustendil.

Greece remains the most popular foreign destination with Bulgarians despite the social unrest there; Turkey comes next. Only 10% of the Bulgarian tourists taking a foreign trip have selected Western Europe or an exotic destination, BATA data shows.

Tourism analysts have pointed out that Romanians continue to demonstrate great interest in Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts, while Greeks are attending mostly spa hotels in the southern parts of the country such as the town of Sandanski.