Tourism

Greece is ranked 11th in the preferences of American travelers as a tourist destination, according to online platform “TripHobo”. The data was collected based on the choices of 700,000 users and revealed that American holidaymakers picked Greece as one of their most popular choices over the last six months. Canada took first spot, followed by Mexico, Italy and Britain.

Tourist visits to Bulgaria for the Easter holidays are expected to pick up 22% from last year, Tourism Minister Stela Baltova said Wednesday, according to BTA.

She said that Sofia Airport figures indicate an increase of visits from Germany, the UK, Italy and Portugal.

According to the evaluation of TUI Germany, there was an improvement in the quality of the hotels and the services provided by the Greek hotels.

Greece expects an increase of German tourists of up to 30% while arrivals from Germany last year increased 11,7%, which equals to 3,14 million tourists, with TUI being the agency of choice for their majority.

The tourism of younger people is a very promising market. According to the data available by the World Tourism Organization 370 million young people are expected to be traveling around the globe by 2020, while another estimation for tourists between the ages of 18 to 26 states that the value of this market will rise up to 320bn dollars.

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In a joint question tabled on Tuesday in Parliament for the attention of the tourism, justice and interior ministers, a group of 38 MPs of leftist SYRIZA called for the decriminalization of free camping in the Greek countryside.

Japanese tourists are intrigued by the opportunity to visit Bulgaria and get acquainted with the masterpieces of Thracian culture, according to BNR.

 This became clear after the meeting of Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Stela Baltova with the chairman of the Japan-Southeast Europe Business Association Kihachiro Nishiura.

Few people automatically think of Albania when it comes to arranging their holidays, but data showing that Albanian tourism is growing fast has speeded up a drive to formalize the touristic market, codify hotel ratings and promote growth by hunting for foreign investments.

Albania's Ministry of Economy and Tourism told BIRN that the main focus now is to continue the upwards trend.

Among the goals of the Bulgarian Minsitry of Tourism was holding a long-term policy for the sustainable development of tourism and the creation of a competitive tourism product with a recognisable national identity and preserved culture and nature.

Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı told state-run Anadolu Agency on March 31 that he expected better visitor numbers in 2017 after a "difficult year."        

The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey soared around 96 percent in February compared to the same month of 2016, although arrivals from Europe continued to decline, official data has shown. 

According to preliminary data released by the Tourism Ministry on March 30, some 39,261 Russians visited Turkey in February.