Bulgaria tourism sees double-digit growth in 2016

Bulgarian tourism achieved double-digit growth in 2016 year-on-year, President of the National Statistical Institute Sergey Tsvetarsky and Minister of Tourism Stela Baltova said at a joint press conference on Wednesday.

In 2016, the total number of the nights spent in Bulgaria's accommodation establishments such as hotels was 25.2 million, 17.7 percent more over 2015, Tsvetarsky said.

The total revenues from nights spent in 2016 reached 1.229 billion BGN (some 682 million U.S. dollars), up 18.9 percent year-on-year, he said.

Increase were registered in the revenues from both foreign citizens and Bulgarians, which were 22.5 percent and 10.4 percent respectively.

Baltova added that the number of foreign tourists was 8.25 million, 16.2 percent more compared with 2015.

"The growth can be attributed to the fact that Bulgaria is a very calm and safe destination," Baltova said.

"This, of course, is an amazing advantage of Bulgaria, especially in the context of political and global environment in which tourism develops," she said.

The increase in quality and diversity of the Bulgarian tourist product was the second major reason for this growth, Baltova said. Endit