The number of Russian tourists to Bulgaria continues to increase, it has almost quadrupled, despite all the “harsh conditions”, Hristo Prodanov, ex-Minister of Tourism of the disbanded government, told local media. After all, we are talking about real estate owners in Bulgaria, although tour operators have not stopped cooperating with the country. And the consulate, as before, issues visas without restrictions.
We will remind you that Bulgaria was among the first countries that stopped air traffic with Russia. Also, as the former minister added, all planned information events and advertising campaigns for Bulgaria as a tourist destination on the Russian market have been suspended.
But this does not stop tourists. “Despite the difficult international situation and the lack of direct flights, 33,584 Russian tourists, mainly real estate owners, arrived in the country in January-May 2022 alone. The increase in the number of Russian tourists who visited Bulgaria in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2021 is 3.9 times,” said Prodanov.
At the same time, according to him, the Consular Department of the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow continues to issue tourist visas to Russian citizens regularly without restrictions. In addition, “none of the Russian tour operators announced their intention to close Bulgaria as a tourist destination, all are ready to continue their work and adapt to the new conditions,” added Prodanov.
As for the routes, Russian tourists make their way through Istanbul and Yerevan, he added. The ex-minister also listed that Bulgaria is trying to replace Russian tourists with active work in the markets “in some countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Belarus.”