Tourism

Bulgaria is one of the four countries where young Romanians usually choose to spend their summer holidays, data from the largest Romanian charter tour operator suggests.

Turkey?s tourism numbers and income have been declining this year amid security concerns and economic woes in Russia, but the losses may be much higher in 2016 unless serious measures are taken, especially in a bid to preserve the country?s perception abroad. 

More than 500,000 fewer Russians visited Turkey in the first seven months of 2015 in comparison to the same period the year previously, tourism representatives have said, noting the greatest drop-off was seen in the southern hotspot of Antalya.

The maximum price for an umbrella and a deck chair on a Black Sea beach is "absurd", Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova has warned.

She has confirmed that, according to government information, there were reports of beaches offering umbrellas and deck chairs for BGN 57 (EUR 28.5) per day. Many hotels along Bulgaria's Black Sea coastline offer cheaper rooms.

The number of British tourists visiting Turkey has been decreasing amid security and political concerns, according to sector representatives, compounding the issue of the country losing around 30 percent of its Russian tourists, mainly due to economic problems in Russia. 

As the number of tourists visiting Turkey this summer has seen a sharp drop, Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Çetin Osman Budak has filed a written question to Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu about whether the decrease is due to political and security concerns, and enquiring whether measures will be taken to support the sector amid the drop.

The Bulgarian tour operators are sustaining heavy losses due to the decline in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country.

In the first six months of the year, the number of foreigners visiting Bulgaria amounted to 280 000 tourists, daily Dnevnik informs.

Cruise tourist traffic to Turkey increased by 20 percent in the first half of the year from the same period in 2014, according to data compiled from the database of the Touristic Hoteliers' Association of the Mediterranean (AKTOB). 

Domestic trips by Turkish citizens lasting one or more night increased by 9.6 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, with denizens making nearly 14 million trips and spending almost 3.7 billion Turkish Liras. 

Leisure, however, does not rank among the top motivations for trips, with visiting relatives still the top reason for travel in the country. 

The reception desks of all hotels will be reachable via an internal call by dialing 9, according to Irena Georgieva, Bulgaria's Deputy Tourism Minister.

Georgieva commented on the new ordinance on the categorization of hotels and accommodation sites in a Thursday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio.