Send to Kindle
Bulgaria's Minister of Energy, Economy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev has said that tourist flows from Israel have returned to normal after the July 18 bus bombing in Burgas. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency
Bulgarian Energy and Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev has argued that the flow of tourists from Israel has returned to normal.
Dobrev told journalists Friday that the July 18 bus bombing at the Sarafovo Airport in Burgas had caused a temporary decrease in tourist flows from Israel but added that the numbers of tourists had returned to normal, matching the forecasts from the beginning of the season.
The terror attack in the Bulgarian Black Sea coastal city killed seven, including five Israeli tourists, the Bulgarian bus driver and the suspected suicide bomber.
Dobrev announced that 28 charter flights from Israel had landed in Bulgaria last week, meaning that the tourist flow from the country had been fully restored.
He suggested that the normalization of the tourist flow from Israel had happened thanks to the visit of Israeli Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov to Bulgaria and Delyan Dobrev's visit to Israel and the promotional campaign for Bulgaria published by four of the largest print editions in Israel and the interviews aired on local TV channels.
Dobrev claimed that the problems with the bankrupt tour operator Bulgarian VIP Tours (BVT) would not affect the summer season in any way.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Energy, Economy and Tourism had pooled efforts with tour operators and hotel owners to take timely steps to prevent a situation like last year's scandal with Alma Tour.
In September 2011, Bulgaria Air, Bulgaria's national airline carrier and heir to Balkan Airlines, cancelled a number of flights to Russia and Finland booked by bankrupt tour operator Alma Tour, saying that the company owed them EUR 3.6 M.
The dispute left some 700 Russians, 200 Finns and dozens of Lithuanians stranded in Bulgaria for days.
In his Friday statement, Dobrev admitted that the news of BVT's bankruptcy had resulted in some hotel owners asking tourists to re-pay their stay.
However, Dobrev emphasized, the situation had been resolved after talks with the hotel administrations.
He said that BVT's commitments were being taken care of by other Bulgarian tour operators who were working with Russian, Moldovan and Iranian tour operators.
Dobrev attended Friday the miners' feasts in the southern cities of Madan and Zlatograd.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
The Prosecutor's Office has initiated an investigation into the alleged bankruptcy during December 2022 to June 2023, causing damages of BGN 81 million to the Ministry of the Interior
Vice President Iliyana Yotova stated that Bulgaria is not facing bankruptcy
There is no risk of bankruptcy of the state, nor of the intervention of the International Monetary Fund and the need to take out new debt
Bulgaria is threatened with bankruptcy. There is a serious problem in maintaining fiscal stability
The turmoil in the US banking sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) should have only a limited impact on European banks, which are organized differently
Entrepreneur and Twitter owner Elon Musk has warned his employees that the company could lose billions of dollars next year. According to him, "bankruptcy is not excluded"
Recent data from the German Tourist Board show a discernible trend, indicating an increased interest among Bulgarians in visiting Germany
In a momentous occasion marking the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area by air and sea, Balchik Airport is set to witness a remarkable gathering of more than 20 planes from Romania
The flights will operate every Wednesday and Saturday.
As the Orthodox Easter coincides with May this year, Bulgaria is gearing up for an unprecedented surge in travel, predicts Rumen Draganov, director of the Institute for Analysis and Forecasting of the Information Environment in Tourism, in an interview wi
In March 2024, the national carrier commenced operations on flights to Malpensa Airport via the restored regular route to Milan – a beloved and popular destination for all Bulgarians
In preparation for the upcoming summer season, authorities in Sunny Beach have unveiled a state-of-the-art video surveillance system comprising nearly 100 cameras, with four equipped for facial and license plate recognition
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022
