Tourism in Bulgaria - Tourism in the New Europe

Travel Reference

In-Depth Information

Tourism Infrastructure

from the EU stayed in the Black Sea resorts,

10% in the mountain resorts and 20% in urban

(business trips and cultural tours) and rural

areas

Most tourism infrastructure in Bulgaria relates to

102 resorts (seaside, spa and mountain) and 66

settlements with cultural attractions (Bachvarov,

1999). The large seaside and mountain resorts

were centrally planned and financed exclusively

for tourism. In 2004, the capacity of hotels and

similar establishments was 86,000 rooms, or

190,000 beds, out of a total 450,000 beds in all

forms of commercial and subsidized accommo-

dation. Between 2002 and 2004 the country's

hotel capacity increased by up to 50%. In the

official statistical sources for 2002, the capacity

for hotel and similar establishments was only

170,000 (Marinov, 2004), but there is a consid-

erable undeclared capacity. For example, in

2004 the mayor of Bansko declared that there

were 1000 'hidden' beds in his town (from

www.netinfo.bg, 2005). Private lodgings, for-

merly very popular, have declined as well as

trade union 'rest houses' and other subsidized

'welfare' accommodation.

The overwhelming trend in the years since

the start of privatization in 1997 has been the

rapid reconstruction of older hotels and restau-

rants and the building of many new hotels,

catering and entertainment establishments. It is

estimated that in 2004 about 70% of tourists

(ecological

and

rural

tourism,

game

hunting).

A characteristic feature of Bulgarian accom-

modation in the past was its low quality and lim-

ited variety of services. The dominant category

was 2-star with small rooms and poor sanitation,

often in noisy places and without sports facilities.

This was appropriate for simple 'sun, sea and

sand' tourism when the majority of tourists came

from other Communist countries. The propor-

tion of luxury hotels in the 1980s was only

3-4%. This situation is gradually changing as new

private hotels offer a higher quality and the pro-

portion of 4- and 5-star hotels in 2004 was 27%

(of which 5.4% were 5-star - see Table 19.1).

Sofia's proportion of the number of

overnights spent within the country is 10.1%

(for foreign visitors, 15.6%), but due to a higher

standard, prices and occupancy rates, the

capital city's share of revenue was actually 30%

(Marinov, 2000, 2004).

A similar trend can be observed in catering

and entertainment establishments that have

also expanded in capacity, standard and variety

of services (Table 19.2). The price : quality

ratio of food and other services is among the

Table 19.1.

Bulgarian accommodation and 'lodging' establishments, September 2004.