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Bulgarian tourism hits record high from Jan-Sept: minister

Xinhua, October 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Bulgarian tourism industry welcomed a record high number of 10 million tourists in the first nine months of 2016, the country's tourism minister Nikolina Angelkova said here on Thursday.

From January to September, the Balkan country welcomed nearly seven million foreigners and 2.9 million domestic tourists, up by 15 percent and eight percent year-on-year respectively, Angelkova said at a press conference.

In particular, during the summer season, Bulgaria welcomed over five million foreign citizens, an increase of more than 18 percent over the same period of 2015, she said.

From June to September, the number of tourists from Germany increased by 33 percent, from Russia by 22 percent, Poland, 38 percent, the Czech Republic, 38 percent, France, 19 percent, Austria, 20 percent, and the Netherlands, 34 percent, Angelkova said.

In Bulgaria, tourism accounts for about 12 percent of the gross domestic product and provides employment to about 360,000 people. Endit