site.btaOver-Middle-Age Bulgarians Made Most Tourist Trips in Q2 of 2024, Statistics Show

Bulgarians' tourist trips in the second quarter of 2024 approximated the number of such trips in the comparable period of 2019, figures released by the National Statistical Institute on Monday. In terms of age groups, however, there was a change between the two periods: in the second quarter of 2024, most tourist trips were logged by persons aged 45-64, while those aged 25-44 predominated in the second quarter of 2019. 

A total of 1,209,000 Bulgarian residents made tourist trips in the second quarter of 2024. The majority of them, 71.3%, travelled only inland, 22.6% only abroad, and 6.1% both inland and abroad. Compared to the same quarter of 2023, the total number of travelled persons aged 15 and over increased by 3.1%.

By comparison, 1,219,800 Bulgarians travelled for tourism purposes in the second quarter of 2019, of whom 75.7% only inland, 19.1% only abroad, and 5.2% both inland and abroad. Compared to the same quarter of 2018, the total number of travelers aged 15 and older grew by 12.4%.

Travelers' Profile

Most Bulgarian citizens who travelled were aged 45-64 (456,000), or 37.7% of all travelers. Inland trips dominated in all age groups, and this share was the highest (77.2%) among persons aged 65 and over. The share of residents aged 15-24 who travelled abroad (28.1% of the total travelers in this group) was the highest compared to the other age groups. 

The 548,000 Bulgarians aged 25-44 who travelled in the second quarter of 2019 were most numerous, representing 44.9% of all travelers. Inland travel predominated in all age groups during that period, and those aged 65 and over were the most numerous: 78% of all travelers. As to travel abroad, the share of those aged 25-44 was the largest: 19.9% of all who travelled in this age group.

Most tourist trips both inland (59.5%) and abroad (82.4%) in the second quarter of 2024 were for holiday and recreation, compared to 46.2% and 78.4%, respectively, in the like period of 2019. 

A total of 1.4 million tourist trips, or 84.3% of the total for the second quarter of 2024, were registered as organized independently. The share of independent trips without booking was 90.4% in the country and 64.9% abroad.

In the second quarter of 2019, the independently organized tourist trips numbered 1,485,500, or 89.2% of the total. The share of such private tourist trips without booking was 94.2% domestic and 68.5% outbound.

Tourism-Related Expenditure

In the tourism-related expenditures for the second quarter of 2024, spending on food took up the largest share for both inland trips and trips abroad: 40.8% and 34.3%. The average expenditure on private trips per person was BGN 292.20 inland and BGN 846.41 abroad. The average expenditure per person on a professional trip was BGN 271.36 inland and BGN 1,229.55 abroad.  

In the comparable period of 2019, food again was the largest expenditure item: 37.8% for domestic trips, but transport came out on top for outbound trips at 29%. In the second quarter of 2019, the average expenditure per person on a private trip was BGN 168.82 inland and BGN 1,198.35 abroad.