Travel and Tourism - Bulgaria

Euromonitor International's Travel And Tourism in Bulgaria report offers a comprehensive guide to the market at a national level. It looks at travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, tourist attractions and retail travel. It identifies the leading companies and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market, including background information on tourism inflows, disposable income, annual leave and holiday taking habits.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Publication date: Apr-10

Global economic crisis affects all markets in the travel and tourism industry

Inbound and outbound flows decrease sharply

After several years of exceptionally strong growth, both inbound and outbound flows dropped sharply in 2009. However, the decrease was not as high as predicted, particularly in arrivals. Actually, in the context of the global economic crisis, Bulgarian travel and tourism profited from the country’s image as a budget destination, because travellers were forced to look for cheaper, more affordable holidays. The negative growth rate of outbound trips was double that of inbound trips, particularly for more expensive, distant destinations.

Demand for domestic tourism is stimulated by the global economic crisis

In the years following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, growth in domestic tourism was sluggish, as Bulgarians took full advantage of their newly acquired right to move freely within the EU. However, due to the global economic crisis, an increasing number of Bulgarians abandoned plans to travel abroad, choosing instead to spend their holidays at local resorts, thus partly compensating for the drop in arrivals.This trend is expected to become stronger over the next few years, as Bulgarians will remain cautious in their spending habits, despite the optimistic outlook for a slow economic recovery in 2011.

Change of government is expected to have a positive impact on tourism

The new government, which took office in July 2009, closed the State Agency for Tourism and created the new Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism; whereby matters related to tourism will be in the hands of a deputy minister. The government has also vowed to improve the business environment and attract more foreign investment, thus boosting inbound as well as outbound business travel. In addition, the new cabinet has won back the trust of the EU, which has started to unfreeze funding to Bulgaria, some of which will go into the development of tourism projects.

Low cost carriers expand their services

Low cost carriers have enjoyed continuous success since their entry into the Bulgarian market, and 2009 was no exception. The carriers continued expanding their routes and frequency of flights to and from Bulgaria. The vacuum left after the bankruptcy of SkyEurope, which was one of the well-established carriers in Bulgaria, was quickly filled by its competitors, which used the opportunity to increase their market shares. Low cost carriers are expected to continue expanding in the short term, with two new carriers set to start flights to Bulgaria in 2010, as well as new destinations added by existing carriers.