The Nationals Statistics Institute has recorded a drop of 15% in Bulgarian trips abroad in November, in comparison to last year. Photo by BGNES
The number of trips Bulgarian traveled abroad continued to go down in November while the number of foreign visitors to the country is up, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI).
250 900 Bulgarians traveled abroad in November, which is over 15% down, compared to the same month of 2009. Moreover, trips to neighboring countries – Serbia, Greece and Turkey, which are traditionally the most frequent, are down 20%.
Nearly half of all trips of Bulgarians abroad have been business trips, followed by vacation and visiting friends or relatives (about 25% each).
Meanwhile, 375 100 foreigners have visited Bulgaria in November. This is a nearly 11% increase year-on-year. The largest increase has been registered in the number of transit travelers – 16%, forming 37% of all foreign visitors to the country, followed by vacationers – up 13% with a 27% share.
The number of Serbian visitors, compared to November 2009 is up nearly 87%; the one of Macedonians is up 52% while 42% more Russians came to Bulgaria in November, 2010 on annual basis.