site.btaTourism Minister: Russian Tourists in 2014 Down 3.2% on Year

Tourism Minister: Russian Tourists in 2014 Down 3.2% on Year


Bourgas, on the Black Sea, January 15 (BTA) - The number of
Russian tourists visiting Bulgaria between January and November
2014 fell 3.2 per cent on year (by about 21,000 people), Tourism
 Minister Nikolina Angelkova told a briefing in Bourgas on
Thursday. The number of Ukrainian tourists fell 8.2 per cent
(about 56,000 people).

Faster visa issue and standardized rules and tariff rates are
some of the improvements the Tourism Ministry is working on to
counter the downward trend for Russian and Ukrainian tourists,
said Angelkova. Work is in progress on standardizing
administrative procedures at the consulates and the outsourced
Visa Application Centres. 

She added that a further drop in the Russian market and fewer
German and British tourists are expected this year.

Before the briefing, Angelkova met with tourism industry
representatives and mayors of the regional administration of
Bourgas to discuss visa requirements, the drop in tourist
numbers and infrastructure. The new legal status of the national
 resorts was also on the agenda.

Projects such as the new road between Bourgas and Sunny Beach
will be financed by the Tourism Infrastructure and Tourist
Attractions Fund from the beginning of 2016. The fund's
resources will be specified in discussion with the Finance
Ministry.