Bulgaria’s Consular Service in Moscow has issued 14% more visas since the beginning of the year, with the 300,000th visa for a Russian citizen оn August, 8.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, by August 1, 2012 the issued visas were 281,217 compared to 247,595 for the same time period in 2011.
Tour operators are also seeing an increase of tourists flow to Bulgaria. “The main summer program in Varna lasts until mid-September, in Burgas – until the end of October. Therefore, it is too early to draw conclusions about the end of the season. At present, our company has achieved a 20% growth of tourist number in Bulgaria “, said Elena Andrievskaya, Head of Bulgarian department of ICS Travel Group.
Bulgarian authorities keep their promise and give the Russians multivisa. It is given to tourists, who rested in Bulgaria last year. “Some tourists themselves learn about the program and ask for multivisa. This indicates the interest of Russian tourists in this opportunity,” Elena Andrievskaya noted. “However, it is possible that multivisa will be useful for our visitors only until the end of the year: Bulgaria plans to join the Schengen area next year”.
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