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Bulgaria reports huge plunge in EU tourists number

Xinhua, August 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgaria reported a huge drop in tourists visiting from within the EU, according to figures provided by the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators on Thursday.

Compared to 2013, there were drops in arrivals of 13 percent from Germany, 35 percent from Greece and 20 percent from Britain.

"The situation is pretty serious," Bayko Baykov, chairperson of the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators, told local media.

"It is hard to say whether tour operators will go bankrupt as this is not the first year we have seen this decrease. The trend will grow unless measures are taken at the level of the Council of Ministers," he said.

Baykov said Bulgaria's tourism sector was faced with a crisis that needed to be addressed with fresh marketing endeavors and campaigns.

The tourism industry accounts for about 10 percent of Bulgarian GDP. Endit