“For now, there is no concrete data on the drop of Russian tourists in Bulgaria for the winter season, but we have observations for a decrease of Russian tourists between 30 and 50%.” This was said by Georgi Petkov, member of the council of the Bulgarian association of tourism agencies (BATA). “In our business, the winter season defines the summer season”, explained Petkov. According to him, if measures are not taken accordingly, the tendency for a decrease of Russian tourists in the winter might remain in the summer season.

“Perhaps it sounds too dramatic and pretentious, but believe me – that’s the truth. The Russian market has turned into a market of last moment reservations, and we can’t define the tendency from the early reservations. The Bulgarian product is very marketable. When it comes to obstacles, the visa isn’t an obstacle. The price of a visa is. Thus, we want the visas for the Russian tourists to be free. The Bulgarian product is lagging behind in the marketability of our offers behind Croatia, Cyprus, Spain. Only Greece is behind us”, said Petkov.