According to the tourism minister, 1.2 million tourists will visit Bulgaria this winter season

Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova commented for a Nova TV interview on the winter tourism season forecast.

“We have grounds to believe that around 1.2 million tourists will visit Bulgaria during the holidays.

“The information about early bookings and initial figures provided by the resorts and the airports show that we can expect a 5% - 7% growth this season.

“The seasonal flights at Sofia Airport have been increased from 80 last year to 178 this year. The airports in Varna and Burgas report an increase compared with last year, too.

“There is also some 8% increase of the flights from Russia, which proves that more Russian tourists are heading at the Bulgarian market. We work out special conditions for the Russian tourists – the sector is in charge of the tourist packages, while we are in charge of the procedures connected with the visas,” Ms Angelkova declared.

Depending on the tourists influx, Bulgaria will open more visa centers to avoid visa difficulties. Moreover, the number of Bulgarian tourists also experiences a slight 3% increase when compared to last year's winter holiday figures.