Sofia echo Mon, Nov 16 2009

Russian tourists avoid Bulgaria

Winter tourism in Bulgaria depends primarily on Russian and British tourists, but due to regulation problems attributed mainly to the issuing of visas to Russians, the country's winter tourist season could be facing hard times, Donka Sokolova, head of the Association of Bulgarian Travel Agents, told Focus news agency on November 16 2009.

The Bulgarian tourist sector says that 75 per cent of its revenue is attributed to the summer season, 10 per cent to the winter season and the remaining 15 per cent from "
cultural tourism"
. As far as the winter season is concerned, it relies predominantly on British and Russian tourists, but citizens from the latter destination are required to obtain an entry visa to Bulgaria, which has been increased by 12 euro.

"
We met foreign ministry officials and hope Bulgarian tourist agencies will have visas issued in the Bulgarian consulates,"
Focus news quoted Sokolova as saying.

"
An hour ago, however, I was told that five charter flights from Russia to Bulgaria, which were due at Christmas and New Year’s Eve, have been canceled,"
Sokolova said.

Sokolova believes that if appropriate measures are taken, the potential Russian decline could be offset by an increase of British tourists.

In 2008, overall net revenues from the Bulgarian tourism amounted to 1450 billion euro, the report says.





If they are right then it means they expect an increase in Brits

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Admin wrote:

If they are right then it means they expect an increase in Brits

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and prices probably

Well you are probably right but it's all for the good of the future of Bulgaria, lets be honest without investment then I believe that Bulgaria would be on its A**E ? so although in some ways it may bad news overall its good news

Well this summer we saw a massive increase in Russian tourists that wanted self catering holidays. Most had driven to the coast but that lets wait and see what next summer brings

[size=75:lebss1fi]novinite November 16, 2009

Bulgaria Winter Tourist Season to Be Salvaged by Bulgarians

It will be down to the Bulgarians themselves to salvage the winter tourist season, just as it happened in the summer, operators have warned.

Already, charter flights from Russia to Bulgaria for Christmas and New Year have been canceled because of problems with issuing Bulgarian visas to Russian citizens, Donka Sokolova, chairwoman of the Bulgarian Association of Tourist Agencies (BATA), announced on Monday.

There is a serious risk of a collapse of the winter holiday season if this problem is not overcome, she commented.

The basic cost of a visa for a Russian citizen is EUR 35, but the total is increased by EUR 12 to EUR 47, once the handling charges of the visa centers of the Indian company VFS Global, are added.

The outsourcing company, with which the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow signed an agreement in November 2008, operates only a courier service - they only deliver the visa documents to consulates. This does not facilitate the entire process of issuing visas, but merely adds to the cost, commented Sokolova.

She said that BATA is going to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), to discuss yet again the issue of whether to continue the Bulgarian contract with VFS Global.

“Due to these problems with visas, we can expect a fall in the number of tourists from Russia, and that is one of our main tourist markets,” Sokolova concluded.

She further predicted a 10% drop in the numbers of British visitors.

“Our hopes were that this fall in the British market would be offset by Russian visitors, but evidently this will not now happen’” she stated.

The BATA chair added that at least there were not yet any British flight cancellations

The sector is also worried by the effects of the swine flu epidemic on bookings for winter vacations, but, Soklova commented that “it was a good sign that at the World Travel Market (WTM) tourist expo in London, held last week, there wasn't a single person wearing a mask.”

Last summer, the number of Bulgarian tourists had risen by 50%, meaning that they had, in effect, "
saved"
the season, said Sokolova.

“There is a huge possibility that this will happen again this season,” she commented. “In this way, thanks to Bulgarian tourists, the sector will maintain its revenues at the level of last year's, even though as a whole there is a drop in tourist visitors.”

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Keeping fingers crossed

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Oddy

Am I the only one that HATES the word Brit please whats the matter with saying BRITISH or English Iam English and will always be so please no more brit its BRITISH junenan

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Ok junenan British it is [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oddy

Understand what you say junenan, but I think the word Brits is used describe the people of the united kingdom ie the English, Irish, Scottish and the Welsh I suppose its just quicker than having to type down all those above

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