Minister: Drop of Russian Tourists to Be Compensated by European Visitors

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said on Saturday that the declining interest of Russian tourists towards Bulgaria could be compensated by visitors from the rest of Europe.

Russia and Ukraine represented an important, but not the sole market for Bulgarian tourism, Angelkova added in an interview for private bTV station.

Her words came amidst the heightened concerns of the tourism sector regarding the forthcoming summer season and the numerous political comments on the topic.

According to her, the decrease of Russian tourists varied from 20 % to 80 % and the trend dated from a year and a half.

Angelkova quoted statistical data of Russian tour operators, which revealed considerable decrease in the Russian interest towards other traditional destinations such as Egypt, Turkey and Israel.

According to tourist agencies, the drop in the number of Russian tourists was due to factors such as the financial crisis that Moscow was experiencing and the devaluation of the rouble.

The conflict in Ukraine and the participation of Bulgaria in the sanctions against Moscow were further reasons for the withdrawal of Russian visitors.

The minister said that the forthcoming tourist season will be full of challenges and called for focusing on what could be put on offer rather than calculating the losses.

She explained that the withdrawal of Russian tourists was expected to be compensated by the increasing interest of tourists from the rest of Europe towards Bulgaria.

According to her, the expectations were that there will be a 5 % increase in the number of German tourists, 40 % growth of visitors from Lithuania and Latvia and 5-10 % rise from the neighbouring Balkan states - Greece, Serbia and Turkey.

The Minister admitted...