Low-cost flights to Varna and Burgas, which were opened at the end of March, will bring at least 300,000 tourists this year compared to the past. Rumen Draganov of the Institute for Tourism Analysis and Evaluation said.

In the summer season, our main markets will be German and Russian and we need to keep them a lot, the expert said. The tourist growth is expected to be exactly 11% in 2018.

The ending month of May is also good for Bulgarian tourism. The reasons are two.

"May is a very strong month. Last year, we had 870,000 foreign visitors, but now we may have about 100,000 more as we started low-cost flights to Varna and Burgas airports. This is the main reason for revenue growth. On the one hand, the revenue is increasing because of the larger mass of traveling people who come also because of the Euro-Presidency and because of the low-cost flights. We also raised the prices. The Euro-Presidency has made it possible for much more employment in Sofia hotels, most of the hotels were busy, and when the seats were over, there is the price regulation tool. If for 140 leva everything is full, the price is 150, 160 leva, and in that way you do not leave unhappy tourists, "the expert told Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.

According to him, in the tourism sector, the salaries are higher as "it is not possible to" pass a meter ".

When asked whether this growth rate is 11% for the first quarter of the year and will continue to rise, the interlocutor replied:

"There are many geopolitical factors that influence, but I would say that in a strategic plan Bulgaria is very stable. The European Parliament was making an unprecedented advertisement - 200 times a day, Sofia and Bulgaria are mentioned in various media around the world.

Since the end of March, the low-cost flights to Varna and Burgas have started and there are many tourists from Poland. When they come, they like the country, they make mouth-to-mouth advertising and more people from Poland come in Bulgaria. The best advertisement for Bulgaria is the people who come and see what is here - calm, quiet, cheap, beautiful people, speak in all languages because we are at a crossroads. "

Of course, there are also some problems:

"The Ministry of Tourism does not know how to manage public ownership at all - we do not have a register to know where it is, we do not know what our revenues are, we do not know what jobs we create. For hotels and restaurants we know exactly a penny, but for public state ownership - no. For 4 years we were unable to solve the campsite issue. Only now mayor of Pomorie Ivan Aleksiev came up with a project to build a camping and camping site in Pomorie, ie. For 4 years, the ministry can not organize the mayors of the municipalities and instruct them to designate the areas where you may have a camper, caravan or tent. "

Draganov called "disgraceful" the practice of giving a beach to a concessionaire who would do what he wanted there. As the main reason for this, he pointed out "the corrupt practices imposed by the law".

According to the expert, a reform in tourism, which is currently a vague branch, is needed. "Political management has always encouraged the sector to be dissociated. Our whole story is "Divide and rule," Draganov added.

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