site.btaBulgarian Tourism Experts Expect Slowdown of Tourism in Summer 2025

The Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents (ABTTA) expects a slowdown in tourism growth in Bulgaria due to the unfavorable economic situation. At the moment, it is difficult to predict the effect on the sector, after Bulgaria became a full member of Schengen, but it would not be surprising to see a decline in the Romanian market due to easier access for citizens from that country to the seaside resorts of Greece, ABTTA Deputy Chair Dimitrina Goranova commented in a BTA interview. 

Goranova added that if there is growth in tourism this summer, it will be from the main traditional markets such as Great Britain, Germany, Poland and Czechia.

According to preliminary estimates, a holiday on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast this summer will not become more expensive by more than 10%, said Goranova.

The ABTTA Deputy Chair did not commit to forecasts for the number of visits, but pointed out that the statistical data presented by the Ministry of Tourism in March 2025 indicate that in 2024, of the foreign markets, only the Romanian and Polish markets, as well as the domestic Bulgarian market, marked growth, while all the others saw a decline. The levels from Summer 2019 have not yet been achieved in terms of the number of visits, and Goranova does not expect them to be achieved in 2025 either. In percentage terms, revenue growth of up to 10% can be expected, she said.

Goranova noted that every year new flight connections are opened to destinations with great potential. This year, new flights were opened on the Varna - Abu Dhabi route with a large-scale presentation of Bulgaria as a tourist destination. The presence of favorable climatic conditions in Bulgarian resorts, combined with direct flights between airports, creates one of the necessary prerequisites for attracting tourists from the Near and Middle East to Bulgarian seaside resorts, said Goranova. At the same time, she also highlighted the increased number of routes from the airports in Varna and Burgas to traditional European markets.

The main markets remain Romania, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Czechia, North Macedonia. “We continue to rely on the domestic market, which generates a major percentage of visits to seaside resorts,” summarized the ABTTA Deputy Chair.

Despite the differences in the preferences of each person, several basic attitudes are emerging: a significant number of Bulgarians traditionally vacation in the resorts south of Burgas, with the average number of nights ranging from 5 to 7, said Goranova. She pointed out that for the most part these are families with small children who prefer all-inclusive vacations. Along with this, there is an increased interest in campsites in the southern part of the Black Sea coast, where there are quite modern and well-equipped places for a more nature-friendly vacation, she added.

Problems in tourism

For years, the main problem in Bulgarian tourism has been the shortage of qualified personnel, which directly reflects on the quality of service. According to some sources, the shortage of seasonal workers reaches 200,000 people this year, said Goranova.

She explained that everyone in the industry is actively working to attract workers from abroad in order to ensure adequate quality of service to tourists. But despite efforts, supported by measures of state institutions, the results so far are not particularly encouraging.

Over the past six years, Bulgaria has attracted over 108,000 foreign workers from third countries, said Goranova, referring to data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy for the period 2019-2024, and their number is growing with each passing year. This suggests that the solution to the problem is not in attracting foreign labour, but in searching for schemes for longer-term engagement of personnel, because with the shortening of the summer season, the industry is becoming increasingly unattractive.

The idea of ​​attracting foreign tourists to Bulgaria during all seasons has motivated ABTTA to direct its efforts towards combining several tourist products united around cultural tourism, which includes not only visiting cultural and historical sites, but also participating in festivals, getting to know culinary traditions, wine tourism, pilgrimages, etc., said the ABTTA Deputy Chair.