site.btaNumber of Polish Tourists in Bulgaria Up by 16.8% in 2023, Y/Y

The number of Polish tourists who visited Bulgaria in 2023 was by 16.8% higher than in 2022, Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova said at a meeting with Piotr Borys, Secretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Sport and Tourism, here on Thursday. Preliminary data of tour operators show that the reform launched by the Tourism Ministry for the marketing strategy for the Bulgarian Black Sea coast will increase the interest in Bulgaria, Dinkova added, as quoted by her ministry.

The destinations preferred by Polish tourists in Bulgaria are the municipalities of Sofia, Varna, Nessebar, Primorsko, Tsarevo, and Balchik. "Last year, within the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the tourism ministries of Bulgaria and Poland, we held expert meetings to exchange experience in policies of priority for our country, such as the Tourism Guarantee Fund, digitalization in tourism and the organizations managing tourist areas," Dinkova said. She expressed the hope that the inter-institutional partnership will continue in the future.

Borys said that he and his team will continue working on the implementation of the commitments made in the Memorandum of Understanding. The good bilateral cooperation and understanding in tourism will continue in 2024.

In mid-January, during an online meeting between Dinkova and the tourist attaches in Germany, Poland, and Turkiye, attache in Warsaw Nikolay Kostov said that some 300,000 Polish nationals are expected in the coming summer season to feel the positive change resulting from Bulgaria's entry in Schengen by air. Bulgaria is the closest destination by air where Polish nationals travel for their summer holiday, Kostov said, noting the extremely positive reactions from Poland to the eased travel to and from Bulgaria.