Bulgaria is to spend about 300 million leva (about 150 million euro) in European Union funds over the next two years restoring 11 castles and a large number of ancient sites that are popular tourist attractions.
Among the sites where restoration and development work will be done are the museum village of Etura, former capital Pliska, the Madara Horseman cliff carving near the town of Shoumen, Arbanassi, the Assenovgrad fortress, Magura and Ledenika caves and the Belogradchik rocks.
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An enormous new vacation complex is to be build on Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea coast, announced Atanas Stoilov, Mayor of the Municipality of Aksakovo near Varna.
Stoilov told reporters Tuesday, as cited by Darik Radio, that the new resort will be built between the village of General Kantardzhievo and the Albena resort complex on a plot of 300 decares.
In his words, the project first started several years ago when it was initiated by French investors. After one of the investor's...
Bulgaria's total 2011 income from foreign tourists will reach EUR 2,7 B, according to estimates from the National Tourism Board, an NGO.
Thus, in 2011, Bulgaria's income from foreign tourists will grow by 4.5%, while the total number of foreign tourists who visited the country will be 14% greater. Earlier estimates put their total number at over 6 million.
At the same time, the total income from Bulgarian tourists will reach BGN 1.5 B, or about EUR 770 M, the Board has estimated, as cited...
Bulgaria's popular southern Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach wants British police officers to patrol it during the next tourist season.
"We are sure this would be a fairly effective way of collaboration, because it would improve the tourists' security. It would create some respect in our foreign guests who break and demolish things, create conflicts and offend police officers," Georgi Nedelchev, chair of the Sunny Beach hotel owners' union, said.
Nedelchev was positive that the police...
The number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria in July 2011 was 1 609 900, which indicates a 2.6% increase year on year, the country's National Statistical Institute says.
Tourism is the main reason for the increase, as the arrivals with holiday and recreation purpose increased by 4.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2010 and composed the greatest share of the total number of foreigners visited Bulgaria – 60.9%
A total of 25% of the visitors passed transit, while 6.7...
A peculiar tourist attraction – a 45-meter-long artificial dinosaur has arrived in Bulgaria's Black Sea capital Varna.
The curious are welcome to take a tour inside the giant Hollywood-manufactured beast and feel its heartbeat and breathing, as well as experience a variety of visual and sound effects.
The "creature" is one of only seven existing in the world, the Bulgarian BGNES news agency says, pointing out they trigger immense interest in all cities they travel through.
The...
The chaotic urban development of the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts has been exposed as the Regional Development Ministry is trying to figure out how many tourists reside in each one of them over the summer.
"The Bulgarian state will not pour a single buck into the construction of water purification facilities in the resorts until it gets precise data about the residents of each municipality from at least three sources," Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev declared...
The Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA) and construction company Glavbolgarstroy have signed a contract for the preliminary design and construction of a new control tower at Sofia Airport.
The air traffic control tower will be 50 meters high and will be built near Terminal 2 so that the two units suit each other in terms of architecture.
"The height and the location of the tower have been selected so as to ensure that the airport will remain functional for at least 40...
Data from the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI) is confirming the various reports that Bulgaria's tourism sector is enjoying a very strong summer season in 2011.
The total revenue from tourist accommodation (i.e. hotel room and apartment stays) in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2011 reached BGN 165.3 M, an increase of 14.4% year-on-year compared with the same quarter of 2010, NSI announced Thursday.
The accommodation income from foreign tourists in Q2 is reported to have...
A map with little-known yet interesting places to visit in Sofia will be presented Wednesday to Sofia municipal councilors and the business sector.
The colorful leaflet titled "The Unknown Sofia" is to be ready by the end of the month, according to a report of state-owned TV channel BNT.
It will be distributed free of charge at airports, railway stations, hotels and border checkpoints.
Some of the sights on the map are: a mausoleum from the Late Antiquity discovered on the territory of...
Sofia Airport registered a monthly slowdown in passenger traffic growth in July.
In July 2011 Sofia Airport serviced a total of 336.5 passengers, up by 3% compared to the same month in 2010, according to a media statement of the company.
In June 2011, however, the annual increase settled at 6% and the half-year growth came in at 8.4%.
In July 2011, passenger traffic at the airport in Bulgaria's capital went up by 8.6% on the month.
Over 90% of the people traveled on international...
The Balchik palace complex in the northern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria is marking during summer 2011 a peak of weddings of couples from all over the world.
Over 30 couples from Bulgaria, the US, Switzerland, Australia, Romania and Slovakia have chosen the beautiful backdrop of the sea and the castle to tie the knot, the Culture Activities Department at the complex reports.
The most exotic wedding had been the one of a couple from Iran, who had chosen the Bulgarian site after visiting it...
Bulgaria has partly regained its popularity among overseas buyers, breaking back into the top ten most preferred real estate markets for Britons, according to a UK guide for residential property.
3.3% of all enquiries in July were directed at Bulgarian property, marking the country's return to the overseas property portal's top ten for the first time in three years, TheMoveChannel.com report said.
In the comparative list of overall enquiry volume for last month Bulgaria ranked seventh,...
Bulgaria's largest summer resort Sunny Beach, which has recently made headlines with binging sprees, alcohol-related accidents, crime and prostitution, has ousted Mallorca in the hearts of young Germans.
"The German tourists now prefer to spend their summer holidays in Sunny Beach rather than in Mallorca," says a report of the German ARD.
Data shows that Germans, primarily students, who have come to Bulgaria for their proms, account for 70-80% of the tourists in the resort.
The prices...
Bulgaria's 2011 summer tourist season will most likely end up being the most successful in terms of revenues in the past ten years, various data indicates.
The Institute for Analysis and Assessment in Tourism, a think-tank, estimated that 6.6 million tourists will have visited the Bulgarian Black Sea by the end of the season in August 2011. This means a growth of the number of tourists by some 14% with respect to their numbers in 2010.
Prof. Stoyan Marinov, member of the board of the...
Melia Hotels International has signed a contract to manage a new hotel in Bulgaria's top Black Sea resort Nessebar.
The Spanish-owned chain formerly known as Sol Melia is taking over the management of the four-star Marina Palace hotel in Nessebar, which is going to rebranded as Sol Marina Palace as a result.
Melia Hotels International, which is the largest hotel chain in Spain and the third largest in Europe with over 350 hotels, has already been managing a hotel with over 1000 rooms in...
The new version of the national tourism portal of the Bulgarian government www.bulgariatravel.org is said to be ready in a month.
According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, as cited by Dnevnik, the new site will be up and running in September.
The site is developed by a consortium entitled "Bulgaria Travel 2010" including three firms – Media Planning Group, CNsys, and Screen Brothers – which won the tender for it in competition with 13 other entities at the...
According to estimates, 6.6 M tourists will have visited the Bulgarian Black Sea by the end of the season in August.
This means a growth of the number of tourists by some 14% with respect to their numbers in 2010.
According to the Institute for Analysis and Assessment in Tourism, at present the growth is over 10%.
In terms of nationality, increased numbers come mostly from Russia, Germany and Slovakia.
At the same time, the Institute notes that counting all the growth, some 70% of...
Bulgaria features on the top 10 of destinations for adventure tourism among developing countries, a survey of George Washington University in Washington DC has found.
Among the developing countries, Israel, Slovakia and Chile have been highlited as the leaders in terms of adventure tourism potential, followed by Estonia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovenia.
Switzerland, Iceland and New Zealand have topped the list of developed countries. Canada, Germany and Sweden have been also...
Trips of Bulgarians abroad came in at 328.8 thousand in June 2011, registering a 3.8% increase on the year, according to the country's National Statistical Institute.
An upward trend was registered in the trips to the following destinations: Hungary - by 36.2%, Romania - by 26.1%, Ireland - by 22.1%, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) - by 20.1%, Austria - by 19.5%, Israel - by 18.4%, Belgium - by 7.3%, United Kingdom - by 6.6%, Germany - by 6.4%, Slovenia - by 6.1%, Turkey - by...
The Bulgarian city of Vratsa announced Tuesday the project of constructing a BGN 5.3 M recreational part in the Ledenika Cave.
The project is funded by the Regional Development Operational Programme within the framework of a strategy for developing tourist attractions in the region.
The recreational park will consist of separate thematic units, with light and music themes within the different halls of the cave.
Shows will include images projected in the cave lake, a volcano simulation,...
An increase in the number of Russian tourists has been registered in Bulgaria over the last two years, according to Marin Neshkov, chair of the tourist chamber of the country's Black Sea capital Varna, has said.
Besides Russians, tourists from Germany and the UK constitute major parts from the Balkan country's tourist market, Neshkov has said, as cited by actualno.com.
Bulgaria has already achieved its highest possible market share in Germany, the Nordic countries and the UK and could...
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