site.btaYoung People Prefer Sustainable Hotels, Eco-Friendly Travel

Two major trends in tourism were reported by the European Consumer Centre in Bulgaria (ECB) at a roundtable on travel, holidays, and consumers held at the Grand Hotel Sofia on Friday.

The first trend is the interest of young people in seeking and booking holidays in sustainable hotels, in addition to a more nature-friendly form of travel. The second has to do with the price hike over the last two years and the response to this from the business sector in the shape of 'shrinkflation', or the provision of fewer services for the same price compared to a year earlier. This information was unveiled by Sonia Spasova, Director of EPC Bulgaria. The round table is dedicated to the challenges and solutions facing the tourism sector and is held every autumn, bringing together stakeholders - government institutions, the tourism industry and consumer organizations.

Spasova also reported on the work of EPC Bulgaria for 2022, pointing out that 90% of the citizens who turned to the centre were compensated and the overall compensation during the year exceeded EUR 130,000.

The Centre's data shows that the most frequent complaints, or nearly a third of them, are related to the transport sector and, more specifically, to air transport - delays or lost luggage. This compares with a proportion of over 40% of such complaints in 2020.

Around 6% of complaints related to accommodation, holidays and bookings. The third category is complaints about problems with online shopping.

Sonia Spasova's overall assessment of the tourism industry in Bulgaria is that the sector is recovering.

"EPC Bulgaria is part of a network with similar centres in all EU member states, Iceland, Norway and the UK. The network started to develop on a European scale in 2005, and three years later - in Bulgaria, where the EPC operates as part of the Commission for Consumer Protection. The activities of the centre are funded by the European Commission and the member countries themselves.   

The priorities of the work of the EPC in Bulgaria are cross-border consumer complaints. The Centre is also committed to providing preventive information and to presenting alternative dispute resolutions. The assistance of the EPC Bulgaria is free of charge, with no language barriers.