site.btaMinister Miloshev Expects Tourism Growth of Some 10%

The Tourism Ministry is optimistic about the tourist season, expecting an increase by some 10%, caretaker Tourism Minister Evtim Miloshev said on Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday. According to data of the European Travel Commission for January-March 2024, Bulgaria is second in Europe for growth in tourist numbers: 39% compared to the like months of 2019. Another reason to be optimistic is the good weather during the Easter break in early May, when nearly 80,000 tourist registrations were made, marking a good start of the summer season, Miloshev noted.

He noted that in organized tourism, everything is done well in advance and changes in schedules to factor in the weather are not good, because the huge flow of foreign tourists who will come have been organized since the spring, and the big bookings started last year.  If we have a difficult start in terms of weather and then after the end of the season we have bonus sunny months, it is not very good for organised tourism, the minister added. 

It transpires from Miloshev's words that an interpretative decision is being sought so that the 9% VAT for tour operators, which expires in July, can be applied at least within this season. "Certainly our ministry and personally I will try to put this issue up for discussion, we will make our inquiries, especially to the Ministry of Finance, whether the legal relationship that has begun can be interpreted as a tax event that has occurred in circumstances with the 9%. If that happens, it would be a great gesture to employers and to the sector," said the caretaker Tourism Minister.  

According to him, the lack of staff is forcing employers to promise at least 20% higher pay compared to last summer. He urged the Foreign Ministry to post additional staff at Bulgarian consular offices in Central Asian countries, where many applicants for jobs in Bulgaria's tourism sector come from, for example Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Kyrgyzstan. At the moment, requests for visa appointments are several months ahead, and according to the Minister, employers are expecting these employees.