site.btaBulgarians Favour More Order, Control in Resorts - Survey

Sofia, February 8 (BTA) - Most of Bulgarians firmly support the introduction of more rules and order in Bulgarian resorts, shows a Gallup International survey conducted among 801 adults between January 31 and February 1 as part of the pollster's consumer research programme.

The opinion poll was carried out jointly with the National Board of Tourism and the Made in Bulgaria Union.

The majority of respondents approve of all kinds of measures for the introduction of order on beaches: 92 per cent support the idea of clearer rules on where caravans and tents can be placed; 84 per cent approve of the introduction of a price ceiling for the use of beach parasols and lounge chairs provided on site; 63 per cent support on principle the idea to categorize beaches. The Tourism Ministry's work is approved by 39 per cent, as opposed to 35 per cent who disapprove of it and 26 per cent who are uncertain.

Fifty-five per cent approve of the standardization of how movable objects on and around beaches look, 36 per cent disapprove of this idea and the rest of the respondents are uncertain. However, 67 per cent do not agree with the complete removal of such objects and food and drinks being sold back along the first line of hotels.

Although they support all kinds of measures aimed at greater order in tourist areas, the majority of respondents reject extreme ideas. For example, 62 per cent selected the option that the checks in resorts should be conducted all the time and without warning, in order to achieve constant control, while 36 per cent showed preference for the option that this type of checks should be carried out together with the media and in the presence of tourists so as to give these greater publicity. It appears that Bulgarian society prefers permanent rather than demonstrative measures, the pollsters comment.

Seventy-nine per cent see the granting of concessions on beaches as the better option for maintaining beaches clean and orderly, while 17 per cent have the opposite opinion.

On the topic of winter tourism, 67 per cent believe new gondola lifts and installations are needed, while 19 per cent think otherwise.

Forty-six per cent and 35 per cent have been on holiday at a Bulgarian sea resort and mountain resort, respectively, in the last five years. Twenty per cent have visited a foreign sea resort and two per cent, a foreign mountain resort. Those who plan to visit a Bulgarian resort on the coast and in the mountains this year are 41 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively; for a visit to such resorts abroad the percentages stand at 15 and 3 per cent, respectively.