According to the latest figures of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) released on Monday, Bulgarians completed 306 856 trips abroad in the first month of this year, which represented an increase of 4 % compared to January 2015.

There were increases in the number of trips Bulgarians made to Spain, Macedonia, Serbia, Austria, Italy and Germany, while drops were registered in the number of trips to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey, Romania, the UK and Greece.

Trips for other purposes (visiting friends and relatives, education, attending cultural and sports events) accounted for the greatest relative share of trips made by Bulgarians abroad, followed by business trips and holiday travel and excursions.

Compared to January last year, there was increase in the number of holiday travel and excursions and trips for other purposes, while business trips decreased.

In January, 74.1 % of trips to Turkey and 68.9 % of those to Serbia were for other purposes.

Business trips accounted for 64.6 % of trips to Slovenia, while holiday travel and excursions constituted 33.9 % of trips to Macedonia.

In January, foreigners made 410 085 visits to Bulgaria, which represented an increase of 4.2 % compared to the same month in 2015.

There was increase in the number of holiday travel and excursions and trips for other purposes, while business trips decreased.

Out of all foreigners visiting Bulgaria, the share of EU citizens amounted to 42.3 %, which represented an increase of 1.4 % compared to the same month in 2015.

There were more visitors from Italy, Greece and Austria, while the number of guests from the UK, Germany, France and Romania declined.

There was increase in the number of visitors from other European countries, with the guests from Macedonia accounting for the greatest growth.

Holiday travel and excursions constituted the greatest share of visits made by foreigners to Bulgaria, followed by trips for other purposes (including visiting relatives and friends and transit travel) and business trips.

Holiday travel and excursions constituted respectively 95.5 % and 91.5 % of all trips made by citizens of Israel and Macedonia.

Business trips accounted for respectively 52.6 % and 43.3 % of all trips originating from Poland and Italy, while trips for other purposes represented respectively 87.7 % and 57.5 % of visits made by citizens of Romania and Greece.