Bulgarians may grumble about their problems and about being broke but when holidays come along nothing can stop them from traveling and having fun. Statistics show that Bulgarians made the most of the holidays for May 1 and St. George’s Day, May 6. Bulgarians spent 100 million euro on transport, hotels, restaurants, etc, figures show. According to the Institute of Analysis and Assessments in Tourism, over the holidays, Bulgarians spent 45 million euro. 140,000 Bulgarians traveled abroad and double that number decided to spend their holiday in Bulgaria. The number of Bulgarians who traveled to Greece over Easter also went up this year. According to the Institute's director Rumen Draganov, Bulgarian tourists have enough money and are looking for services of high quality and good food. They easily find theme in neighboring Greece. According to Mr. Draganov local hotel owners could have taken steps to attract some of the people who spent their holiday abroad.

Greek tour operators have shown flexibility and offered great packages at low prices, and that did not remain unnoticed. The resorts in Northern Greece have actually become a favorite destination for a great many Bulgarians. Thousands of Bulgarian tourists also decided to visit Mount Athos and the Bulgarian Orthodox Monastery of Zograf there. In the nearby town of Ouranopouli one could hear predominantly Bulgarian speech. Many restaurants in the region have their menus written in Bulgarian, too.

A good number of Bulgarians also celebrated St. George’s Day in the southern sea resorts of neighboring Turkey. Neighboring Serbia also managed to attract Bulgarian gluttons with festivities including huge barbecues and lots of rakia. A few resorts in Serbia, close to the border with Bulgaria rely predominantly on Bulgarian visitors.

The growing number of Bulgarian tourists going abroad does not mean that they have decided to abandon Bulgaria as a tourist destination. Despite the rainy weather since the beginning of May some 350,000 Bulgarians decided to visit across the country. Unfortunately many of the hotels at the seaside remained closed. However, the hotels that were open were full to capacity. Other tourists decided to spend the holidays in the mountains or in villages across the country. Guest houses in the Rhodopes and Stara Planina also welcomed a great number of tourists, offering them delicious cuisine, wine, outdoor rambles , etc.

English version: Alexander Markov

Photos: Veneta Nikolova