site.btaQuality of Hotel Services in Bulgaria Continues to Grow, Study Shows

The quality of hotel services in Bulgaria is on the rise in 2024 for the second year in a row, according to a survey by the Hotel & Tourism Investment Forum (HTIF) obtained on Thursday by BTA.

The HotScore index, which measures the satisfaction of hotel guests in Bulgaria, rose by 0.9 points to 72.4 - an increase that, although slightly lower than last year's (1.5 points), still outlines a steady positive trend in terms of service, the organization said. The growth is encouraging because it clearly shows that despite several challenges facing the sector, such as a spike in prices of basic goods and services, lack of manpower, political uncertainty and other negative factors, the quality of hotel service is growing, the HTIF study found.

The organization's research covers the period from December 2023 to December 2024 and measures with algorithms, ranking on the basis of user ratings, more than 1,000 hotels in Bulgaria that meet the conditions of having 20 or more rooms (to exclude Airbnb apartments and guesthouses), three, four and five-star categories, and a minimum number of 50 user ratings across different booking platforms.

Analysis of performance on major international booking platforms

The hotel business is one of the few where the quality of service provided can be accurately measured, the HTIF notes. An objective criterion for this is the ratings and reviews that hotel guests leave on various booking platforms, such as Booking.com, Google, Tripadvisor, and others.

Based on these ratings, using a special algorithm and artificial intelligence allows to calculate the customer satisfaction index for each hotel in the country - its HotScore™ (Hotel Score). For this purpose, in addition to the user ratings themselves, the algorithm also takes into account the category of the hotel - tourists have different expectations for their stay in a 3-star and a 5-star hotel; the number of comments - it is more difficult for a hotel with 1,500 ratings to achieve and maintain a high HotScore compared to one with only 200 ratings; and several other factors that ensure maximum objectivity.

In 2024, the project to calculate and continuously monitor the rating of hotels in Bulgaria was approved and co-financed by the European Union under the OP "Innovation and Competitiveness".

Other facts 

Among the top 100 hotels in the country, 40 are beach hotels, 29 are city hotels, 18 are spa hotels, 7 are mountain hotels, and 6 are "other holiday" hotels.

The 100 hotels that achieved the highest HotScore during the year will traditionally be included in the TOP 100 Best Hotels in Bulgaria 2024 rating and awarded at a special gala ceremony on January 23 at the Central Military Club in Sofia.