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Bulgaria Got 450 000 Russians in 2011, Expects 20% More in 2012

Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012

Bulgaria is going to open a tourism representation office in the Russian capital Moscow, Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism Ivo Marinov has announced.

Marinov spoke at the annual tourism expo Intourmarket in Moscow, as cited by Interfax and BTA. In his words, the Bulgarian tourism office in the Russian capital will be launched in a few months.

He said that over 455 000 Russian citizens visited Bulgaria in 2011, which is an increase of more than 20% year-on-year.

The number of visas that Bulgaria issued to Russians in 2011 grew by 35% compared with 2010, and by 100% compared with 2009, Marinov explained

At the same time, he noted that the Bulgarian government expects a new 20% year-on-year increase in the number of visiting Russians in 2012.

"Bulgaria's recent adoption of the Schengen visas is an additional incentive for attracting Russian tourists," the Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister added.

He also said a new agreement between the aviation authorities of Bulgaria and Russia is now going to allow each country to conduct 28 flights to the other per week, and has abolished the need to coordinate charter flights with approved airline companies.

According to Bulgarian government data, Bulgaria was visited by 6.4 million foreign tourists in 2011, an overall increase of 4.6% compared with 2010. At the same time, Bulgaria's revenues from foreign tourists' visits grew by 3.8 y/y, reaching EUR 2.8 B.

Interfax points out that Bulgaria's main foreign tourist source countries are Russia, the UK, Germany, and Romania.

Source: novinite.com