site.btaMost Realistic Discount of Seaside, Mountain Holidays This Summer Is 7%

Most Realistic Discount of  Seaside, Mountain Holidays  This Summer Is 7%

Sofia, June 10 (BTA) - The most realistic discount of the prices
of holiday offers both in seaside and mountain resorts this
summer is 7 per cent due to the drop of fuel prices and the
strengthening of the US dollar, the British pound and the Franc
against the euro, Roumen Draganov, Director of the Institute of
Analyses and Evaluations in Tourism, said in an interview for
BTA.

The drop in the number of Russian tourists will be around 20 per
cent, which is approximately about 150,000 tourists annually.
The decrease is due to the cancellation of children's camps and
redirection of trips under social programmes to the domestic
resorts.

At the same time, there is a high interest from the markets,
operating on US dollars and British pounds, and a growth of
bookings of the German market, which is the main one sending
tourists to Bulgaria, said Draganov. He notes that the
indicators of the Scandinavian market are also good. In this
context, he voiced confidence that the drop of Russian tourists
will not only be overcome but there will be 300,000 more
tourists compared to last year. "At 7.2 million serviced
tourists in Bulgaria in the 2014 summer season, this year we
expect 7.5 million tourists," Draganov projected. However, there
will be a drop of revenues to the national budget due to
undeclared transactions for the purchase of holiday estates by
Russian citizens, which fall into the grey sector.

The impression about low occupancy will continue because the
number of new accommodation facilities keeps on increasing. None
of the municipalities restricts the construction and the
commissioning of new hotels. Around 180 new accommodation
facilities have been opened only for a year. If this pace
continues, the number of hotels will double in the next ten
years, Draganov warns.

Of the servicing staff, the demand for cooks and middle-level
managers will be the highest.

The share of aparthotels has been increasing. A large part of
them have Russian owners, who lease them to their compatriots
for a certain period of time for consideration, the expert said.
"These sales take place on Russian or Bulgarian territory but
they are not registered as commercial transactions. This means
that a non-sanctioned competition emerges for Bulgarian
hotel-keepers both in the Black Sea and mountain resorts because
the amounts within these transactions are usually not
declared."

According to Draganov, the reduction of the prices of hotels and
the high number of tourists, for which no taxes are charged as
they travel under the pretext of being relatives and friends of
apartment owners, will result in a reduction of the revenues
from tourism this year.

The idea about giving holiday vouchers to Bulgarians cannot be
implemented at this stage because the Finance Ministry said that
it is not in a position to issue the vouchers this year and
will probably consider them within the budget for next year,
Draganov commented.