Every year, millions of Germans get a bonus with their salaries, something similar to the "13th  cheque" that some Bulgarian workers get at the end of the year.
In the Germans’ case, however, the purpose of this bonus is that it be spent solely on holiday travel.

Almost as a ritual, the money gets put in an envelope, locked in a drawer, only to be used when the time comes for summer leave.  The only thing that people think about during this time is where their family’s next summer destination will be.

Germans are known for their passion for travel and for the fact that they invest a lot of time and effort in choosing the best offer according to their criteria. For years, they have been among the biggest spenders on tourism abroad, which has made them welcome and desirable guests all around the world. 

This is true for Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts, where Germans are valued as important clients because they are the biggest group of foreign tourists arriving at the seaside, keeping alive hundreds of hotels. 

Besides this, Germans are also the only group of foreign tourists who contribute to having a longer summer season. They start their travels in March-April and continue until October.

This means that any sign of a drop in the number of visits by German tourists is something of a nightmare for Bulgaria’s tourism sector.

Unfortunately, the forecast for this year’s season is precisely that, with German tourists’ visits expected to register a drop of about 10 per cent. That figure represents  40 000 to 50 000 people, if one believes tour operators’ data that something like half a million Germans visit Bulgaria’s seaside every year.  

Downwards
The data show an average decrease in Germans’ bookings for Bulgaria between 10 and 20 per cent, varying according to tour operator.

According to the two Black Sea airports in Varna and Bourgas, there have been 15 per cent fewer arrivals from Germany between January 1 and July 10 this year, compared to the same period of 2008.

The drop is bigger in the north (Varna) than in the south (Bourgas), which confirms the trend of recent years that resorts around Bourgas attract more tourists.
"In Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach, which is 30km north of Bourgas) there is a bigger supply of services and more competitive prices. That’s why the drop in Varna is bigger than those in Bourgas," says Ventsislav Tanchev, Alltours representative for Bulgaria.

"Even if the price for a day-stay is only a euro and-a-half lower, it adds to a considerable difference in a two-week holiday package," Kalin Soutev of ITS says. 

This makes the contest for German tourists a bit more challenging for hotel owners in Zlatni Pyassutsi (Golden Sands) and Albena resorts north of Varna, compared to their colleagues at Slunchev Bryag. The fact that in 2008 UK tour-operators  -  another important target group for Bulgaria’s tourism trade - decided to work only in the south also adds to the general picture of stagnation in the sector. As a result, hotel owners in the north have started offering bookings for 2010 at prices 10 per cent lower than they are now.   

Heavy artillery
The current negative trend has made travel agencies and hotel owners put a lot of effort into keeping alive German tourists’ interest in Bulgarian seaside resorts.
Competition is tough because all the other seaside destinations are also in the running for clients, bombarding them with attractive offers, discounts, improved quality service and other incentives, almost every second.    

"Although we now have a very diversified market, Germans have remained the foreign tourists who are the most valuable and loyal to Bulgaria. If we manage to make them come here, they could save this year’s summer season," Valentin Yossifov, one of TUI’s managers for Bulgaria, says.

Attracting the interest or German tourists is priority one for hotel owners and tour operators who use all kinds of lures.

"After we lost Germans’ interest in the last couple of years, our aim now is to bring it back and reaffirm our positions on the German market," Yovka Strashilova from Albena resort says.

Companies will try to turn their market policy around for next years’ summer season by giving incentives to Germans who make early bookings. The earlier the booking, the cheaper the price.

This, however, has to be widely advertised in advance. If this year the price of early bookings was 10 to 15 per cent lower, next year some of the tour operators have negotiated discounts of up to 25 per cent.  

"If early bookings do not prove a success, tour operators do not want to take the risk of having empty aircraft and cancelling flights. To have this business strategy running, we need to have more tourists making early bookings," TUI’s Yossifov says, but he has doubts whether these efforts will bring the desired result.

His scepticism can be explained by the fact that German tourists have increasingly started to book at the last possible moment, expecting bigger discounts.  However, from a business point of view, these last-minute sales are the least productive.