Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgaria sees 5% growth in foreign tourists this year

Photo: Ani Petrova, BNR

Since the beginning of the year, 10.7 million foreigners have visited Bulgaria, Rumen Draganov, director of the Institute for Analyses and Evaluations in Tourism, told BNR. This represents a 5% increase over last year.


According to Rumen Draganov, 2024 is shaping up to be the strongest year since the coronavirus pandemic. Revenues are up by nearly 25% compared to 2019, and tourism is expected to contribute 7 percent to the country's GDP (about BGN 14 billion).

Cultural tourism has a significant contribution to the good results this year, as well as weekend trips and the presence of a second home in Bulgaria.

About 360,000 trips were registered around the holidays of September 6 and 22.

"We saw about 190,000 trips by Bulgarians in Bulgaria and about 55,000 trips abroad. At the same time, we currently have over 100,000 foreign visitors in Bulgaria," said Rumen Draganov. According to him, the month will end with about 1.2 million foreign visitors, which is an increase of 5.8% compared to the previous year.

In winter, Rumen Draganov expects nearly 3.3 million foreigners to enter Bulgaria not only for skiing, but also for cultural and spa tourism.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Tourism Minister Borshosh and Booking Holdings' President Fogel discuss joint measures to regulate short-term rentals

Bulgaria’s Minister of Tourism Miroslav Borshosh held a working meeting in Brussels with Glenn Fogel, Chief Executive Officer and President of Booking Holdings. The meeting took place during Destination Europe Summit organized by the European Travel..

published on 2/12/25 12:09 PM

Bulgaria presents its potential for year-round tourism at EMITT exhibition in Istanbul

The flow of visitors to the Bulgarian stand at the 28th East Mediterranean International Tourism & Travel Exhibition EMITT does not stop. The exhibition is held until February 7 in Istanbul and is among the five largest tourism..

published on 2/6/25 8:50 AM
The Bulgarian stand at CMT Stuttgart 2025

Bulgaria with an expanded presence at the tourism exhibition CMT Stuttgart 2025

Bulgaria participates in the international tourism exhibition CMT Stuttgart . The forum is held from January 18 to 26, 2025 , and the main highlights are camping and caravanning, motorcycles, cycling, golf, SPA, cruises and others, reports bgtourism.bg...

published on 1/25/25 10:35 AM