site.btaTourism Minister Hopes Share of Inbound Tourism Will Continue to Grow

On the second, closing day of the Annual Meeting of the European Committee of Tour Operators and Travel Agents Associations (ECTAA), held in Sofia, Minister of Tourism Evtim Miloshev expressed hope that the share of inbound tourism in Bulgaria will continue to grow. For the period June – July, 2024, a total of 29.2% of inbound tourism in this country was organized through tour operators, as well as 35.1% of Bulgarians' personal trips abroad in Q2 of 2024. 

The forum is hosted and organized by the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents (ABTTA), in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and the two largest municipalities in Bulgaria - Sofia and Plovdiv.

Minister Miloshev pointed out that in the last few years tourism in the world has experienced an unprecedented crisis. “All the dramatic events in the world and Europe - COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and the conflict in the Middle East - have confronted the tourism sector in Bulgaria with new challenges, which fortunately we have managed to overcome and come out of the crises stronger, more resilient and more competitive,” he said.

According to him, for the period January-August 2024, the total number of tourist registrations is close to 7 million. Bulgaria's tourism is currently performing better than in 2023 and the pre-pandemic 2019 by this indicator. There is a slight slowdown in the rate of recovery of inbound tourism from abroad, Miloshev commented.

He expressed satisfaction that the share of tourism in the country's GDP has increased from 4.9% in 2021 to 7% in 2023.

The Minister briefed the participants in the forum on the idea of a new tourism product with a working title "Destination Balkans" or "Brand Balkans", and told them about the signed bilateral documents in tourism with his colleagues from Romania, Albania and Montenegro. Miloshev pointed out that he is also expecting meetings with the tourism ministers of Greece and Turkiye. “We want to improve the air connectivity in the Balkans and present this new product, which I believe will upgrade the tourist services offered and will be very interesting, especially for tourists from America and Asia,” the Minister said, noting that this would also be of commercial interest for business.