Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said on Saturday that 5.2 million foreign tourists visited Bulgaria in the first seven months of 2018, an increase of 7% compared with the first seven months of 2017. Angelkova said her ministry's goal of 10 million foreign tourists visiting Bulgaria in 2019 was "realistic".

In the first six months of 2018, Bulgaria's revenue from tourism was 1.3 billion leva ($771 million), which was close to 10% higher than in the first half of 2017, Angelkova said.

"Bulgaria is becoming more and more known as a destination that offers good quality at a reasonable price," she said.

Speaking in the spa resort town of Velingrad, Angelkova said the spa destinations in the Rhodope mountain area were among the most competitive in Bulgaria and had huge potential to attract thousands of tourists from home and abroad with high quality services. The Rhodope area of Bulgaria is one of seven spa destinations being promoted by Bulgaria's Tourism Ministry.

Angelkova said the development of spa destinations in Bulgaria is part of her ministry's overall strategy for promoting Bulgaria as a year-round destination.

She added that there had been a 26% increase in foreign tourists in the region compared with 2017. The largest interest was from citizens of other Balkan countries, Russia, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, the US and Spain.

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