Resorts along Bulgaria's northern Black Sea coast expect the number of tourists this year to increase by between 5 % and 7 % compared to last summer.

The high category hotels have been fully booked for the months of July and August when is the peak of the summer.

The unusually cool weather at the end of May and beginning of June delayed the start of the season with ten days.

The hopes are that last-minute bookings will lead to an increase the number of tourists, daily Dnevnik informs.

Hotels on the northern Black Sea coast usually welcome their first visitors around May 25, but this year most of the accommodation establishments opened their doors between June 5 and 10 due to the bad weather.

Representatives of the sector continue to face difficulties in attracting tourists during the low season.

For example, last October when temperatures reached 30 degrees, hotels were mostly empty, the same was the case this May.

Among the main tourist attractions included on the northern Black Sea coast are Kaliakra cape, the architectural-park complex with palace and botanical garden in the town of Balchik, the Bolata cove, the snail farm in the village of Bulgarevo.

On Monday, Bulgarian authorities announced that 500 officials of the National Revenue Agency (NAP), the interior ministry, the customs agency and the Commission for Consumer Protection will be conducting joint inspections along the northern Black Sea coast throughout the summer.

This year Bulgaria is in the top five of the most preferred summer destinations for Russian tourists.

This was stated by Russian tour operators participating at a conference entitled “Perspectives for the development of Russian tourism in Bulgaria” held in the resort of Albena earlier in June.

Cyprus, Greece, Tunisia and Russia itself are more preferred destinations than Bulgaria.

Representatives of the sector say that the withdrawal of Russian tourists from Turkey and Egypt has not automatically redirected them to Bulgaria.