Over 1 million Romanian tourists will visit Bulgaria in 2012, Bulgaria’s Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism, Ivo Marinov, predicted.

Marinov spoke at a tourism forum in Romania‘s capital Bucharest on Friday during the 8th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, as cited by Cross.

He noted that a total of 960 365 Romanians visited Bulgaria in 2011, an increase of 4.6% compared with 2010.

He further predicted a 6% increase in the number of Romanian visitors in Bulgaria in 2012, year-on-year.

Marinov pointed out that the Bulgarian government is starting an advertising campaign to promote Bulgaria as a tourist destination in Romania with funding from EU Operational Program “Regional Development”.

During the Bucharest tourism forum, Bulgaria was presented with some of its main spa and balneo tourism centers, Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo, and the Black Sea city of Balchik.

Marinov also said that Bulgaria expects between 6% and 8% more foreign touristsin 2012 year-on-year.

Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach expects to welcome large groups of Russians, Brits, Germans and Irish in the last ten days of May 2012, according to Elena Ivanova from the Union of Hotel Owners in Sunny Beach.

In Ivanova’s words, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), demand before the start of the summer season indicates that the industry will continue its upward trend in 2012.

The expert predicts that the bed occupancy rate in Sunny Beach will exceed 20% after May 20, 2012.

She adds that tourists who made reservations in early spring will be able to take advantage of great discount rates.

The peak of the summer season is expected between July 25 and August 20.

Local business representatives anticipate a 5-8% growth in foreign tourist arrivals in the summer of 2012.

The number of visitors from Russia is expected to increase by 12-15% mainly due to the alleviated visa regime.

The number of tourists from Israel is also expected to go up from the rate in 2011.

Bookings by German tourists for the summer season have so far registered a 4% increase and are growing at about the same rate as bookings by Brits.

The 2012 summer season in Sunny Beach will be officially declared open in the beginning of June.

According to Dimitar Nikolov, representative of the Managing Board of the newly established “Sunny Beach” business association, the resort needs a long term image strategy.

He explains that a number of Bulgarian and foreign journalists have been invited to visit Sunny Beach and get an in-depth view of the resort.

“There are people who criticize Sunny Beach without even knowing it. The resort is actually quite attractive, it is very well appreciated and is a top destination for young holidaymakers from all over Europe,” Nikolov argues.

The 2012 summer season in Black Sea resorts will take place against the backdrop of improved security.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov announced Monday that a total of 500 police officers would be dispatched to Bulgarian seaside resorts for the summer season.

Tsvetanov predicted that the number of tourists would increase by up to 8% as compared to the summer season in 2011.

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The official start of the summer tourist season will be given by the end of May, according to the Deputy Economy Minister in charge of the Tourist Industry, Ivo Marinov.

The date is most likely going to be scheduled around the Day of Slavic Script and Culture, May 24, when Bulgarians get four days off, according to Marinov, who spoke in a TV interview Tuesday.

The Deputy Minister informed that the country expects an increase of anywhere between 5% and 8% of foreign tourists this summer, based on the number of early reservations. The expected increase of Russian tourists is 20%. There are ongoing negotiations with Russian aviation authorities to up the number of charter flights to Bulgaria not only in the summer, but in the winter as well.

There is also a noted increase from the German and UK markets.

Marinov cited data of the National Statistics Institute, NSI, showing a growth of 4.9% of foreign tourists during the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period of 2011.

On the subject of the planned relocation of his institution from the capital Sofia to the second largest city of Plovdiv, he explained that the building has already been secured. The Deputy Minister stressed that the headquarters of the Economy Ministry will remain in Sofia and only operations will be moved with the goal to improve interactions between the State and the business.

Bulgaria is focusing on developing alternative forms of tourism, the country’s Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev has stated.

On Monday, Dobrev commented on an announcement made by the country’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov that the Tourism Unit of the Ministry is to be shifted to Bulgaria’s second largest city of Plovdiv.

“We reckon that a high priority should be set on alternative forms of tourism and specialized tourism,” Dobrev stated, explaining that Plovdiv is the “heart of Bulgaria’s alternative tourism.”

Dobrev reminded that cultural, historical, agricultural, religious, wine and Spa tourist destinations are all situated near Plovdiv.

However, Dobrev pointed out that his Ministry will not abandon the development of mass tourism.

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Some 1.5 million Romanian tourists are expected to visit Bulgaria’s Black Sea summer resorts this season, according to Rumen Draganov, head of the Institute for Analysis and Estimates in Tourism.

“The year on year increase is expected to be around 11%,” Draganov has told the Monitor daily. According to the expert, the number of Romanian tourists visiting the country’s summer resorts will reach pre-crisis levels.

However, Draganov has pointed out that the increase in foreign tourists will come at a price.

“The increased number of foreign tourists this summer season will come at the expense of the extremely low, dumping prices that hotel owners offer. Thus, the business is losing ground,” he has explained.

Deputy Minister Ivo Marinov has argued that moving the Tourism Unit of theMinistry of Economy, Energy and Tourism to Plovdiv will boost specialized forms of tourism which are already well developed in the southern Bulgarian city.

Marinov told journalists Monday that the planned move matched the policy of developing and presenting Bulgaria as a tourist destination with an emphasis on cultural tourism.

During a visit to Plovdiv on Sunday,Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced that the administration handling tourism and some institutions in charge of agriculture and railway transport would be moved to Plovdiv.

Marinov specified that an analysis of the human resources for the upcoming move was already underway.

“A number of officials from Plovdiv and the region will be appointed. There may be some difficulties in the beginning, but generally speaking, I do not expect major obstacles. In today’s world, what matter s is the mobility of the workforce, and thanks to the available information technology there will be no large-scale disruptions. Only the Tourism unit will be transferred to Plovdiv. The remaining entities will keep functioning in the capital and they have good coordination among them,” Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister in charge of Tourism explained.

Marinov went on to say that the number of foreign and local tourist was expected to increase in the summer season, which would lead to increased revenues.

He noted that preliminary bookings pointed to a growth of 5-8%.

The Deputy Minister predicted a substantial increase in the number of visitors from Romania and, most of all, Russia, citing newly adopted measures facilitating travels, such as the recognition of Schengen visas in Bulgaria.

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Bulgaria will try to attract a greater number of Macedonian tourists, as the country is to present itself at the Skopje Travel Market 2012 that is launched on Tuesday.

New products, lesser known tourist routes and detailed information on Bulgaria’s Spaand wellness centers will be presented at the Macedonian tourism fair, the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism has announced.

Companies from Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo and the Black Sea summer resorts will be featured at the Bulgarian pavilion.

The fair’s visitors will have the opportunity to taste Bulgarian wines. The Skopje Travel Market 2012 ends on April 28.

In 2011, a total of 382 826 Macedonian tourists visited Bulgaria, which is a 23.5% increase year on year.

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Bulgaria expects to see an approximately 20% increase in Russian tourists this year, according to the country’s Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Delyan Dobrev.

Dobrev pointed out that Russian tourists with Schengen visas can now visit Bulgaria, which would boost the Bulgarian tourism sector.

“We expect a significant growth, especially on the Russian market,” the Minister said.

Tourism is likely the sole economic sector in Bulgaria that is growing in times of crisis, Dobrev observed.

“Over the past several years, we have seen growths between 5% and 8%. I hope we would have a similar growth this year,” Dobrev declared in the city of Veliko Tranovo, when the international Cultural Tourism fair is taking place.

On Saturday, the Economy Minister also stated that Bulgaria will back the South Gas Corridor project. He explained that the project would bring about both higherenergy safety and diversification.

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Greek tourism revenues could mark a 5% decrease in 2012 due to a fall in pre-bookings from Germany, industry officials have said.

Greece expects tourist numbers to fall 3 % from 16.4 million last year, prompting a 5% fall in revenues, in the wake of the country’s negative publicity in its top tourists markets and Germany in particular.

Meanwhile pre-bookings for Bulgaria from Germany have already marked a 14% increase under the program of one of the four major tour operators – TUI, it emerged at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism fair.

Bulgaria enjoys good prospects for profitable summer season not only thanks to its attractive resorts and price-quality ratio, but also due to a tangible outflow of tourists from Greece and Egypt, the German experts pointed out.

Greece remains the greatest destination for Bulgaria‘s short break fans, who would rather find their pleasures closer to home and whose batteries take longer to recharge.

A huge part of the active and working people in the Bulgarian capital have been spending over the last few years their summer holidays south of Sofia, in Greece and Halkidiki in particular.

Unfortunately the good news about Bulgarian tourists will not bring much expected respite to Greeks from their woes.

The problem, people from the Greek industry say, is with the Greek and German tourists.

All the measures that the Greek government implemented in a bid to combat the crisis, particularly the hikes in VAT and fuel, dealt a heavy blow to the country’s tourism sector and it was even forced to swallow a very unpopular move – a decrease in prices of the tourist packages offered.

The decrease in prices though is not a decision for everyone as the smaller, family hotels, which represent the spine of Greece‘s tourism sector, will see their profits shrink even further. That’s the reason why companies opt for keeping the prices, but offering bonuses together with the packages.

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Eurosport will air a special report on Bulgaria’s participation in ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism fair, the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism has informed.

On Thursday, Bulgaria’s Deputy Economy Minister Ivo Marinov met with representatives of FTI Group, REWE Group and Bravo Tours-Denmark. The business representatives offered joint advertisement campaigns that could promote Bulgaria’s tourism.

The campaigns include airing of Bulgarian tourism ads during charter flights, organized tourist visits, radio, TV and online commercials.

“Besides our strategic aim to turn Bulgaria into an year-round tourism destination, we will continue to actively promote our sea tourism on our traditional markets like Germany,” Marinov told the business representatives.

Pre-bookings for Bulgaria from the German market mark a 14% increase under the program of one of the four major tour operators – TUI, representatives of the company said on Wednesday.

Data shows that Germans, primarily students, who have come to Bulgaria for their proms, account for 70-80% of the tourists in resorts such as Sunny Beach.

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