17% decline in tourism in Burgas. What is the reason?

Burgas. Nearly 17% decline in tourists is reported in the Bourgas District in May 2019 compared to the same month in 2018, the Territorial Statistical Bureau reported.

Reduction of overnight stays (by 18.3%) is observed in accommodation places with 4 and 5 stars, in the accommodation with 3 stars - 14.4% and in the accommodation with 1 and 2 stars - 3.3%.

In May 2019, 82.7% of the total number of nights spent by foreign citizens and 54% of Bulgarians were realized in hotels with 4 and 5 stars in Burgas region. Three-star accommodation places accounted for 12% of the overnight stays of foreigners and 21.2% of Bulgarian citizens, while in the other places of accommodation (1 and 2 stars) they were respectively 5.3 and 24.8%.

The United Kingdom is the largest relative share of nights spent in accommodation places in the Bourgas region - 36%, followed by Germany - by 20.4%, Poland - by 11.1% and Romania - by 4.9% .

The arrivals in place of accommodation in May 2019 decreased by 9.3% compared to the same month of 2018 and reached 94.4 thousand. Of all overnight stays, 67.5% are foreigners, with most of them (81.8%) staying in 4 and 5-star accommodation and spending an average of 5.1 nights. The overnight Bulgarians are 30,700, with 51,2% of them also staying in hotels with 4 and 5 stars and achieving an average of 2,3 nights. Revenue from overnight stays in May 2019 was 18,691.4 thousand, or 8% less than in May 2018.

One possible reason for the weak month is the canceled flights of the low-cost airline Ryanair, which in 2018 had direct flights from 11 airports to Burgas, which provided a strong start of last season. Then a large part of the hotels in Burgas was full, and the most serious were the interest of tourists from Poland, Slovakia and Germany.

This year, Ryanair renewed its flights to only two of the 11 destinations, and one of the possible reasons is the willingness of the concessionaire of Burgas Airport to diversify the flights at both airports and direct part of the load to the terminal in Varna.

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