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Bulgarian summer '05
Dnevnik Daily, 16.06.2005
The summer tourist season got off to a late start this year and is not likely to match 2004 in terms of revenues, shows feedback from travel companies working on the Bulgarian market. The growth in foreign tourist arrivals is seen at a modest 5%, a far cry from last year when the sluggish start of the season was offset by torrid business in July and August. Current data on bookings confirms earlier forecasts for a drop-off in the number of German vacationers. In addition to the stagnant German economy, the other culprit here is the problem with the incessant construction activities which have tainted the image of Bulgarian resorts. Ongoing renovations and construction works forced companies like TUI, Thomas Cook, ITS, May Travel, Altours and First Choice to push back the start of the active season by 2-3 weeks, messing up the summer business plan of resort hoteliers. The influx of British and East European tourists will not be enough to offset the losses on the German market which has been the mainstay of the Bulgarian hospitality industry in the last couple of years. To further complicate matters, the decline in tourist arrivals has coincided with an incongruent increase in the bed capacity of the Bulgarian sea resorts. According to data of the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents, the number of beds has risen by 30% year-on-year. Tour operators are hoping last-minute bookers could save the faltering season but the cheaper offers will impact the bottomline of hotel owners. For a second season running, the number of incoming British tourists is on the rise and is expected to top 260,000, up 20,000 on 2004. Thomas Cook estimates it will sell 20% more Bulgarian holidays to British clients this year. In 2004, the company booked 23,000 vacations in Bulgaria. First Choice and Cosmos are also upbeat and expect to make 75-80,000 bookings in 2005. May Travel will double last year's 8,000 bookings on the British market, said local rep Ventsislav Tanchev. Irish bookings for Bulgarian resorts have jumped by 40% this year, said Tanchev, estimating sales of 15,000 holidays on that market in 2005. see source
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