site.btaRevenues from Overnight Stays in Bulgaria in November 2023 Surpass Pre-pandemic Levels

Revenues from nights spent by tourists at accommodation establishments in Bulgaria in November 2023 went up by BGN 26 million compared to the pre-pandemic level in the same month in 2019, according to National Statistical Institute (NSI) data.

November 2023 revenues stood at BGN 69.1 million, increasing by 12.8% compared with November 2022. A total of BGN 46.3 million was generated by Bulgarians and BGN 22.8 million by foreign nationals. The NSI report shows that the revenue from overnight stays in November 2019 was BGN 42.8 million, up by 12% compared to November 2018. An increase was observed in revenues generated by both Bulgarians and foreigners, by 17.4% and 5.1%, respectively.

The occupancy rate in November 2023 was 23.8%, down by 0.6 percentage points compared to 2022. It was the highest in four- and five-star establishments, at 30.1%, followed by three-star establishments, at 24.3%, and one- and two-star establishments, at 16.2%. In November 2019, occupancy was 23.9%, up by 2.5 percentage points compared to November 2018. The occupancy rate by hotel category were similar.

In November 2023, there were 2,066 accommodation establishments - hotels, motels, camping sites, mountain chalets and other establishments for short-term accommodation with 10 or more bed-places - with 59,600 rooms and 123,100 beds-places in them. In comparison with November 2022, the accommodation establishments decreased by 0.3%, and the bed-places in them went up by 4.1%.

The total number of overnight stays stood at 855,200, close to its November 2022 level (at 855,000). Bulgarian citizens spent 636,200 nights, and non-residents spent 219,000 nights in accommodation establishments.

Four- and five-star accommodation establishments accounted for 70.2% of the nights spent by non-residents and 43.1% of the nights spent by Bulgarian residents. Three-star establishments accounted for 18.8% of nights spent by non-residents and 28.6% of nights spent by Bulgarians. The respective figures for one- and two-star establishments were 11% and 28.3%.

Compared with November 2022, the number of arrivals increased by 5.5% to 424,700. An increase of 7.1% for Bulgarian residents and 0.8% for foreign residents was reported. In November 2019, the number of arrivals went up by 11.5% year-over-year to 413,600, with an increase by 12% for Bulgarians and by 10% for foreigners reported.

A total of 322,800 Bulgarian residents spent the night at accommodation establishments in November 2023 were 322,800, with an average of 2 overnight stays. Foreign residents numbered 101,900, with 2.1 overnight stays on average, and 73.5 of them stayed at four- and five-star establishments. In pre-pandemic November 2019, the Bulgarians were 305,900 and spent 1.8 nights on average. The foreigners were 107,700 and spent 2 nights on overage. 73.1% of them stayed  in four- and five-star hotels.