NSI: In December 2019, the number of foreign visitors to Bulgaria increased by 8.6% compared to December 2018

In December 2019, Bulgarian residents made 529.3 thousand trips abroad, a 10.6% increase compared to December 2018, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a press release. An increase was observed in the total number of the trips of Bulgarians to: Serbia - by 28.6%, Romania - by 16.5%, Turkey - by 15.9%, Germany - by 12.9%, Republic of North Macedonia - by 8.2%, Greece - by 2.8%. A decrease was registered in the trips to: France - by 6.3%, Sweden - by 4.3%, Slovenia - by 2.4%, etc.

In December 2019, most trips of Bulgarians were made to: Turkey - 130.1thousand, Greece -91.3thousand, Germany - 46.6thousand, Serbia - 46.4thousand, Romania - 39.9thousand, Republic of North Macedonia - 35.5thousand, Italy - 18.1thousand, Austria - 17.7thousand, the United Kingdom -12.1thousand, Spain - 11.8thousand.

In December 2019, the number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria was 673.4 thousand or by 8.6% more in comparison with December 2018. The share of visits of ЕU citizens was 55.4% of the total number of foreigners’ visits to Bulgaria in December 2019 or by 6.4% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. An increase was registered in the visits of citizens from the United Kingdom - by 37.3%, Italy - by 13.9%, Austria - by 11.5%, Greece - by 5.7%, Romania - by 4.9%, among others. At the same time, a decrease was registered in the visits from Czech Republic - by 14.4%, Slovakia - by 10.5%, Belgium - by 6.1%, Germany - by 2.1%, etc.

The visits of foreigners in the group ‘Other European countries’ increased by 11.9%, and the highest increase was in the visits of citizens of Turkey - by 19.3%.

In December 2019, the most visits to Bulgaria were from: Romania -143.5thousand, Turkey -112.6 thousand, Greece - 111.0 thousand, Serbia - 48.4 thousand, Republic of North Macedonia -47.4 thousand, Germany - 22.9 thousand, the United Kingdom - 20.9 thousand, Ukraine - 18.9 thousand, Italy - 13.0 thousand, Israel - 11.1 thousand.